I'm Okay, Really
by Comeback Queen
Summary: Emily Bolton, Troy's younger sister, is back in town. But with the recent nightmare she lived in at the boarding school she attended, is she really okay like she keeps telling everyone?
1. Memories

**My friend Jordan (sh0rty) introduced me to this site and forced me to write a story, so here I am! Go check out her stories! (Yes, Jordan put this little note in, and she's uploading the story for me.)**

**Ok chapter one...here we go!

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**Emily sat near the front door. She peered out the window onto the front porch. A boy of 16 stood outside. 'He'll be 17 next week!' Emily thought to herself. He had light brown hair and blue eyes with a cell phone glued to his ear. "Troy, what are we going to do with you?" she said to herself.

"You mean he's on the phone again?" Her father walked in. Emily jumped at the sound of his voice. She thought she was alone.

"Yeah, he has been since he got back from hanging with Chad." She said, never taking her eyes off the window.

"Should we worry?" Her father said after a long pause. Emily thought for a moment, considering her answer very carefully.

"Nah, but I'll keep you posted." She turned to face Jack Bolton. The pair exchanged smiles before he began again.

"I'm glad you're back from boarding school. Mom, Troy, and I missed you too much."

"Thanks, Dad." Emily smiled. He gave her a quick hug before returning to his study.

"Ok, well I should probably get going, too, Gabriella." Troy's voice sounded from outside. 'Uh oh...' Emily thought. She stood up and tried to make it to the sofa, but she had only taken two steps when the door clicked shut behind her.

"Emily Katherine Bolton!" Emily froze in position.

"Oh, hello there. Just making sure you weren't dead." Emily smiled sweetly through her lie.

"Hahaha, so cute." Troy said as he walked up to his sister. "What were you doing...really?" He asked.

"I wasn't listening, I swear!" Emily threw up her hands in mock surrender. They both started laughing. Once the laughter subsided, Troy gave Emily a big bear hug.

"I'm so glad you're back, Ems." He whispered in her ear. Emily smiled at the words.

"I'm glad to be back." Troy let her go and watched her walk upstairs to her room.

He plopped on the couch, happy to have his sister back. Possibly, more than she imagined. Being only one year apart, they were inseparable. Most had called her 'his other half'. But last summer, Emily received a scholarship to a boarding school in Colorado. After much debate, late night talks with Troy, and changing her mind for the gazillionth time, she had decided to go. He remembered the first day of school; two days after Emily left.

_"Troy come on, you have to snap out of it!" _

_"Chad, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but, dude, it's useless!" Troy replied. Chad, Zeke and Jason were gathered around him at the lunch table. He sat silenty picking at his food for a moment when he looked up to see them staring at him. "Guys, really, I'm fine!" _

_No one gave an answer. Troy picked up his tray and walked off. He quickly went up to the roof: Emily and Troy's getaway. He sat there for the rest of the lunch period._

Then, right before Winter Break, Emily had called in tears.

_"Troy?" She managed to get out through sobs. _

_"Emily! What's wrong, sis?" Troy got really concerned. Emily never cried to anyone.  
"Troy, a girl was killed..." _

It turned out, Emily's fellow classmate had been murdered in front of their dorm. She had gotten terrified and the family took a trip during Winter Break up to Colorado to get her. Troy remembered seeing her for the first time since the murder. Her remembered her eyes the most. Emily's eyes weren't blue like his, but a hazel color -with flecks of gold in them- and contained a sparkle that Troy never had. On that day though, there was no shimmer and they had turned into a murky brown without a sign of the flecks of gold. She looked hollow and dreary with dark circles from not sleeping. 'I'm too scared too sleep..' She had admitted to Troy one night.

_Emily unlocked four locks and a deadbolt to let her brother in. Once she saw him, Emily flung her arms around Troy's neck. _

_"Oh thank God you're here." She whispered._

Now that Emily was back home, Troy could tell she was better...but what Troy didn't know, is that she wasn't.

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**Lots of flashbacks I know…but I thought it would be a cool way to introduce it. What do you think?**


	2. The Nightmare

**Whoa, I'm going straight into the chapter!

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**Emily tossed and turned in her bed. Her recurring nightmare playing through her mind...

_Emily ran through the forest, huffing and puffing all the way. She turned around to see if she was still being chased, but then tripped over a root. Desperately, she tried to crawl away quickly, but the attacker was closely gaining on her. She stood up, only to find her ankle broken. She was too scared to care, and dealt with the pain as she ran as fast as she could towards the lights of her dorm. She was right outside the entrance when someone grabbed her. Emily tried to scream, but her mouth was covered. Her legs kicked and flailed at her attacker as he tried to drag her off. Finally, the attacker fell to the ground and took Emily with him. He appeared knocked out, but as Emily reached to take off his ski mask, he suddenly grabbed her arm._

Emily bolted up in her bed. She had a cold sweat and was panting.

"Hey, Em, you okay?" Troy walked in and sat on the edge of her bed. Emily thought up her answer quickly but carefully. She didn't want to worry Troy.

"What do you do? Sit outside my door waiting for me to wake up?" She smiled slightly.

"No," Troy smiled back, "I was walking back to room from the kitchen." He motioned to the glass of water in his hands. "Anyways, I heard you panting, then I saw you jump up so I decided to check if you were okay.." Concern crossed his face.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a nightmare, that's all." Troy's concern deepened and she quickly lied "From this horror movie I saw. Scared the crap outta me."

Troy looked relieved. "Oh ok, well if you get scared, my door's open." He got up and walked out. Emily exhaled deeply. She didn't even realizing she had been holding her breath...

* * *

Emily wearily walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She sat down next to her dad, scratching her head sleepily.

"Good morning, Sunshine." He said looking up from his paper.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Emily replied grumpily as she poured a bowl of cereal. Neither Emily nor Troy had ever been morning people. 'And not sleeping doesn't really help, either.' She thought as she popped a spoonful of cereal in her mouth.

"Ems, what's on your mind?" Her father said breaking her thoughts.

"Oh nothing special, just glad to be home." She smiled.

"We're all glad you're home, I really hope you know that, Em."

"Of course I know that, Dad. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, Mom's gone a lot more now with work; I'm coaching and not at home as much and Troy's training hard for basketball. I just don't want you to feel like you're lost in the shuffle."

Emily looked at him. "Dad, I've lived here before. Things couldn't have changed that much in one semester..."

"But they have," Jack interrupted her, "I want you to know we're all relieved you're home."

"Of course we are." Troy's voice called from behind the open fridge door. He poured himself a glass of juice and sat across from Emily. "You need to get dressed if you're coming with me." He added studying Emily's appearance.

"Where are you two going?" Jack peered over his newspaper.

"To see the guys." He answered. Troy turned to Emily, "They're all excited to see you. Now hurry up and get dressed, slow poke, or we'll never make it!"

Just then Troy's cell phone rang. He looked at the Caller I.D. He held up his finger to signal he needed to take the call.

"We're never going to make it if you won't GET OFF THAT CELL PHONE!" Emily teased. Troy rolled his eyes and walked into the living room.

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**I know. Towards the end, it got slow but the begginning was important. FORESHADOWING PEOPLE! **


	3. The Reunion

**Thanks for the reviews! I stayed up until 11 last night writing more so here ya go!

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**"Emster!"

"Chadinater!" Emily screamed as she ran towards Chad and tackled him in a hug.

"Ok Chad, I just go my sister back. Please don't suffocate her within the first 48 hours back home." Troy laughed. Chad let go of Emily somewhat reluctantly. Zeke and Jason each took their turns hugging her. Emily stood back and looked at the boys. They had been there when Troy couldn't. She couldn't even begin to count the times they had been by her side, whether she needed them or not.

She remembered one summer when Troy went to basketball camp, her friend got into a car wreck and was severely injured. They didn't know if she was going to live or die. So Zeke -who sprained his ankle and couldn't go- came over.

_"Here," Zeke said placing a plate of cookies in front of her, "these should help."_

_Emily's head was lying on the table. She glanced at the plate in front of her. Emily studied it for a moment, then picked up a cookie. "Zeke, these are excellent!" She exclaimed after taking a bite. _

_Zeke smiled. "Glad you like them," he pulled another batch from the oven, "because there's plenty more where they came from." Emily's jaw dropped in shock._

_"Wait..Zeke, you...bake?!" _

_Zeke leaned over and shut her mouth. "Yeah, but don't mention it to anyone. Especially the guys.." _

To this day, Emily kept his secret. Then, one time Jason had taken care of a bully she didn't want Troy to know about.

_"Poor little Bolton can't defend herself?" Clark Benson said backing Emily into a corner on the basketball courts outside. _

_"Clark, leave me alone." Emily declared with confidence. Clark didn't like Emily's tone. He lifted his hand to strike her. _

_"Benson, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jason's voice traveled across the court. _

_"Oh really?" Clark turned around, "What are you going to do?"_

_"You really don't wanna find out." Jason's voice was full of spite. When Clark didn't answer, Jason threw a basketball at him hard, hitting him in the stomach. "Get out of here, Benson." With that, Clark high-tailed it out of there._

But her all-time favorite memories were from times with Chad...

_"Okay, open your eyes." Chad's voice was full of excitement. Emily opened her eyes._

_"Chad, what is this?" In front of her sat a book with 'Emily Katherine Bolton' painted on the front. _

_"Open it." He said simply._

_Emily shrugged and opened the book. The front page had that same thing written on it. Except, someone had taken a big red marker and put a big X across it, then wrote 'Emster' instead. The rest of the book was filled with pictures of her and the guys. The last page listed their e-mail, house address, house number, and cell number. _

_"Chad...what?" Emily asked as a smile cracked across her face. _

_"So you can always get in touch with one of us while you're away at boarding school." _

_Tears formed in Emily's eyes. "Thanks, Chad. It's great." She hugged Chad. _

"Earth to sis?" Troy said waving his hand in front of Emily's face.

"Oh, sorry." Emily snapped back into reality. The group made their way to the pizza parlor. Once she walked in, she was overwhelmed by the screaming of "SURPRISE! WELCOME BACK, EMILY!"

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**Hope you liked it!  
Review!**


	4. Moonlit Walks and Late Night Arguments?

**Ok, Jordan informed me that the chapters are really short so I'm going to make this one really long! Any ideas for any events that can happen? I know the big thing and some little things but I need more! Open to comments or suggestions!

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**

"I hope you guys know, I hate you!" Emily told them sliding into a booth. It was one hour into the surprise welcome back party. 

"Why? Because we finally pulled one over on the Great Emily Bolton?" Chad replied jokingly.

"No, because she HATES surprises." Troy teased.

"You know what, Troy?" Emily's eyes narrowed.

"What?" He said smiling back.

"I'm surprised you haven't been on the phone once since we got here. Did that girl turn you down?" Emily smiled.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." He replied sarcastically. Right then, much to Emily's dismay, the 'Cha Cha Slide' came on. Troy stood up and dragged Emily out to the dance floor where he preceeded in humiliating Emily.

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Emily sat in a corner booth chatting with some of her girlfriends. Troy, Zeke, Jason and Chad crowded into one booth on the other side of the parlor. 

"She seems better, right?" Troy asked apprehensively.

"I don't know, man. She seemed almost-"

"Distant." Zeke finished for Chad.

"Distant? She seemed fine to me." Troy looked confused.

"Maybe you shouldn't spend so much time talking to that lover girl of yours." Troy's face turmed crimson.

"Chad has a point there." Jason chimed in.

"Emily's your flesh and blood. Not some girl thousands of miles away." Chad retorted. His voice was filling with anger. "She told me you spend all your time on the phone." He continued.

"Look, don't worry about it. Gabriella-"

"Oh so that's her name." Zeke interrupted.

Troy cleared his throat. "Gabriella is moving, so I won't be able to talk to her."

"Is that...disappointment in your voice, Troy?" Jason said, cocking his eyebrow.

"Look, you don't understand.."

"Understand what?" Emily's tired voice sounded from behind Troy. She stretched and yawned. The boys didn't answer, so she went on. "I hate to be a party-pooper, but it's last and we have school tomorrow."

"Yeah, of course," Chad stood up, "You need your rest, Emster." He studied her face, "You like tired."

Emily avoided his eyes. "Long day, you know?" She gave Chad a quick hug, then hugged the others.

"Bye, guys." Troy also avoided Chad's eyes. Troy didn't wait for a reply before he steered Emily out of the door.

They walked in silence for a moment before Emily began talking.

"What was that all about?"

The sound of her voice made Troy jump. He had been deep in thought about Gabriella. "Oh, nothing." Troy immediately felt bad.

Emily stopped walking and closed her eyes. Slowly, she turned to face Troy- who had stopped also. "Chad told me." She sighed.

'Oh crap…' Troy thought. He had been caught in a lie. "Em, I'm sorry-"

"All I asked was what it was about. Why are you so afraid to tell me about her?" Emily interrupted.

"I don't know. I thought, maybe, you'd feel like we were growing apart. I don't want that, Em, I really don't."

"Then don't lie to me!" Emily yelled.

"I'm sorry, Em!"

"What's her name?" Emily said in a teary voice. Troy looked up at his sister. Tears filled her eyes. His heart broke in two looking at her.

"Gabriella..." He whispered. Troy tried to hug Emily.

"Don't." Emily pulled away "When?" she added.

"When what?"

"When were you going to tell me?" Emily's voice filled with anger with each word.

"I...um..."

"You weren't, were you?" Troy sighed and shook his head. A tear fell down Emily's face. Then another. Then another, until finally, she was continuously crying. Troy took a step towards his sister.

"Leave. Me. Alone." She choked through her sobs.

"Em, please-"

"Don't 'Em' me." And with that, Emily ran. She ran opposite her house, back towards the pizza parlor. Her tears blurred everything but she kept running. She didn't know how long she ran, but she collided with a huge figure eventually.

Emily almost fell, but she was caught by some strong arms. Her body continued to shake in sobs.

"Emster?" Emily didn't answer. Chad picked her up- newlywed style- and carried her into his house. It was late and his parents were asleep. He placed her gently on the couch. Then, Chad walked into the kitchen. Emily calmed down a bit.

"Chad?" She called out after a while. Chad came back in and sat beside her. He had a glass of water and he offered it to Emily. She took a sip, then gave Chad a big hug.

"Emster, what happened?"

"It's Troy..."

"Troy?" He couldn't believe Troy could ever make Emily tear up, let alone sob.

"He lied about Cinderella or Esmeralda or whatever her name is."

"Gabriella."

Emily shot Chad a glare that could turn boiling water to ice. "Then he told me he wasn't going to tell me about her." Emily felt another tear slide down her cheek. Chad gently wiped it away.

"You're kidding." Emily shook her head. Chad filled with anger. 'How could he?' was all he could think. "Emily, go get cleaned up. I'll take you home."

Emily got up and walked to the bathroom sink. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were red from running in the cold, her eyes red and puffy from crying and her mascara was running everywhere. "Chad just called me Emily. Oh boy, this isn't going to end well..." Emily whispered to her reflection.

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**How about that? Hope you liked it! Remember I'm looking for suggestions!  
Review and you'll get some of Jordan's cookies! (Allyn, I can't believe you said that. You're just jealous because I have cookies and you don't. -Jordan)**


	5. You Said she Lived AWAY

**Ok, personally my favorite chapter is Chapter Four (also known as Moonlit Walks and Late-Night…Arguments?), but this one is REALLY good too! It also foreshadows something that will happen later.**

**(Allyn's being good to you. On word and in 10 pt Arial, it was 5 pages. Enjoy! -Jordan)

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**

Emily tried to open the door but it was locked. She fumbled with her keys for a while, but Troy opened the door. 

"Oh thank God." He hugged her. Emily pushed him away, hurt filling her eyes. Chad stepped in front of her.

"You. Me. Outside. NOW!" Chad growled and pulled Troy by his shirt out onto the porch.

Emily walked inside and fixed herself some hot chocolate. She tried not to listen, but Chad and Troy weren't the best at keeping quiet.

"Why did you lie to her?" Chad's voice boomed.

"I don't know!"

"You need to give a better answer than that."

"Well, I don't! I don't get why you're making such a big deal of this!"

"You're Emily's BEST friend!"

"And?" Emily winced at the words, yet she found herself moving closer to the fight.

"You didn't see her, Troy." By now, Emily had moved close enough to see Chad. His fists were clenched and his teeth were gritted. Troy's back was to Emily, but you could tell he wasn't too worried.

"So? It's Emily. I'm sure she was-"

"Sobbing?" Troy didn't answer. Emily moved closer to the open front door.

"Yes, Troy. She was sobbing. I couldn't believe it was Emster when she ran into me. I've never seen her cry like that."

"I-"

"Then she told me that you were the reason she was crying." Chad kept going on, ignoring Troy.

"Look, it's Emily. I said I was sorry and she overreacted. Just like always..." Emily winced again.

"Fine, but if I ever find her like that again because of you, you're dead, Night, Emster." He said, nodding to Emily and walked off.

Troy turned around, realizing Emily heard. His eyes widened and his face paled. Emily stormed up to her room and Troy followed. She tried to slam the door in his face, but he caught the door.

"Em-" He started.

"Oh, so you choose to follow me now?"

"Em, that's not fair."

"LIFE'S NOT FAIR, TROY!"

Troy's face filled with hurt. The weight of the situation finally dawned on him. He walked back into his room for a long night of tossing and turning. Little did he know, down the hall, his sister was doing the same.

* * *

"Hey, Emily!" Sadie Jones waved at her. 

"Good morning, Sadie." Sadie was Emily's best friend. Well, besides from Troy, but she was seriously reconsidering that one.

"You look tired."

"Oh, I'm fine. We were just out late after my party." Emily fumbled with her locker combination. Sadie wasn't completely convinced, but continued on.

"Are you trying out for cheerleader? A few of the people dropped out." She said playing with a blond, curly lock of hair. Sadie's emerald eyes bored into Emily's.

"I don't think so." Emily shook her head, shifting some books in her locker.

"And why not?" Jason's voice rang out from behind Emily's open locker door.

"Because, cheerleaders practice while basketball players do. That would be more time with Troy than necessary." Jason moved beside Emily.

"Yeah, Chad told me about it."

"Aren't you going to be late for homeroom?" Emily eyed him.

"Okay, okay! I'm going!" Jason turned around and walked back up the stairs.

"Ems, how long are you going to avoid your brother?" Sadie questioned. She was worried about them. They hardly every fought for two hours, let alone two days.

"As much as possi-" Emily stopped. A single piece of paper fluttered to the floor. She picked up her biology book- which had made the paper fall. Emily bent down slowly and picked it up.

"What does it say?" Sadie leaned in to read it.

Emily stared at Troy's handwriting.

Em,  
Please meet me during lunch. You know where.

"He wants to apologize!" Sadi squealed. Emily remained silent. She put the slip of paper in her purse, turning around slowly. Troy was watching her from his locker across the hallway. He looked miserable. Emily slammed her locker door shut and walked right past him. But Troy knew, she would be there right when the lunch bell rang.

* * *

Emily made her way slowly up the staircase to the roof. She had debated whether to come or not, and had even almost turned around twice. Now that she was almost there, she got extremely nervous. She didn't know why either. Emily took a deep breath and plunged her way into the jungle Troy and she had created. The flowers everywhere were wonderful and were a great break from the droning red and white everywhere else around the school. She looked briefly and saw Troy wasn't there. She turned around to go back downstairs. 

"Leaving so soon?" Troy's voice said from behind her.

She turned around. He looked really sad. Emily felt the tiniest bit of sadness for her brother. She nodded her head.

"I can't have you doing that. This is my one shot to get you to forgive me." He smiled slightly. He held out his hand. Emily stared at his hand for a moment, not sure whether to take it or not. "I don't bite." Troy smiled a bit bigger. Emily took his hand nervously.

He ushered her to the bench and stood in front of her. He cleared his throat. 'This has to get her.' He thought. He took a deep breath and plunged into song.

_It's 3 AM and I finally say_

_I'm sorry for acting that way_

_I didn't really mean to make you cry_

_Oh baby, sometimes I wonder why_

Emily sat in shock. 'He sings?' she thought.

_Why does it always have to come down_

_To you leaving_

_Before I'll say 'I love you'_

_Why do I always use the words_

_That cut the deepest_

_When I know how much it hurts you_

_Oh baby why, do I do that to you_

She had gotten over the shock of hearing him sing, and started listening to the words. She smiled to herself.

_I know I'd never let you walk away_

_So why do I push you 'til you break_

_And why are you always on the verge of good-bye_

_Before I'll show you how I really feel inside_

_Why does it always have to come down_

_To you leaving_

_Before I'll say 'I love you'_

_Why do I always use the words_

_That cut the deepest_

_When I know how much it hurts you_

_Oh baby why, do I do that to you_

He came to the end of the song. Troy forced himself to put a lot of emotion in it. He had to get the point across to Emily.

_Why do I always use the words that cut the deepest_

_When I know how much it hurts you_

_Oh baby why, do I do that to you_

_Why do I do that to you_

Emily smiled very big as he ended the song. "Since when does Troy Bolton sing?"

"Since...well that's not important. What's important is that I'm sorry." He looked her in the eyes.

"I know. Your song showed me that. I forgive you." She hugged her brother.

"Good, because I have some news for you." He looked nervous.

"What?"

"Gabriella's been transferred here..." He shut his eyes as if preparing for the gasket Emily was about to blow.

"WHAT?!"

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**(-sigh- Allyn forgot to give an author's note at the end. So, I, Jordan, am doing it for her. Allyn wants you to review and uh, I don't know. Enjoy the story, I guess. **

**But I do know that a new character named by me will be introduced in the story! Oh, and, I know what'll happen later, and I can't tell you, sorry.**

**-Jordan)**

**(P.S. Review, please!)**


	6. Meeting, Greeting and Test Cheating

**The end author's note that was SUPPOSED to be on there (love the way you asked, Jordan) said something like this: The song is Why by Jason Aldean and if you know the song then you'll know it sounds NOTHING like Troy, so just pretend Troy changes it to fit his voice. Thanks for ALL the reviews I got! xfunkyxfr3shx: thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep it in mind!

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**

"Come on!" Troy dragged Emily down the stairs. 

"Where are we going?"

"To meet her!" Emily stopped dead in her tracks. Troy had jumped the last stair before he realized.

"Em, come on." Troy spun around.

"You've got to be kidding me." she stared blankly at him.

"Why?" Then Troy realized, "Oh, come on, Em. She's not that bad!"

Emily continued to stare. "Please, Em?" Troy resorted to pleading. He got down on his knees. "Please please please?"

Emily smiled a bit. "Fine." She grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Troy smiled and lead her to the lunch room. He pulled her over to a table, where a brunette girl sat flipping through a text book. _AP Chemistry_ was written on the spine. 'She's pretty' Emily thought.

Troy cleared his throat and the girl looked up. She had big brown eyes that just made her look even prettier. She smiled politely.

"Um, Emily this is Gabriella. Gabriella, this is Emily."

"Hi." Gabriella held out her hand.

"Hello." Emily politely shook it.

"TROY! OVER HERE!" Someone yelled from the other end of the cafeteria.

"Oh, um, I need to see about this. You two just talk amongst yourselves." Troy walked away.

'Awkward' Emily's thoughts said in a sing-song voice.

"So you are the Great Emily Bolton?" Gabriella laughed softly, "Troy's told me so much about you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, almost everything he said related back to you one way or another. Basketball: Emily is pretty good for her height. Singing: Emily has the most amazing voice. Writing: Emily could write the best stories. Jokes: Emily tells the BEST jokes and she has the CUTEST laugh." Gabriella imitated Troy.

"Oh, I didn't know." Emily became shy, which was not like her. She wasn't ever really shy. But now, her shyness was more of being ashamed. Her brother had told Gabriella how great she was and she had treated him horribly.

"Is something wrong, Emily?" Gabriella looked concerned.

"Um, no. I hate to cut this short Gabriella, but I really need to find Troy."

"Oh, it's okay. Nice meeting you." She smiled again. But not a polite smile, a friendly smile.

"Nice meeting you ,too." Emily took a few steps and turned back around, "Oh and Gabriella?"

"Yes?" She said looking up from her book.

"Welcome to East High." Emily gave a big smile.

"Thanks." Gabriella returned the smile.

* * *

Emily ran all over the school. 'Where can he be?' she thought. Emily skidded down the hallway towards the gym. As she raced down the hall, she began to feel a sudden urgency. She needed to tell Troy she was sorry RIGHT NOW! Emily turned around the corner leading to the gym and collided, once again, into Chad. 

"We gotta stop meeting like this." Chad laughed as he helped Emily up. Emily laughed.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"What are you doing running through the halls anyway? Something's not wrong is it?" He looked at her a bit concerned.

"Oh, no. Nothing like that. I was just looking for Troy. Have you seen him?"

"He just went into the locker rooms. He'll be out in a minute."

"Thanks, Chad!" Emily began to walk into the gym, but Chad caught her arm. "What?" She looked at him. Troy walked up behind Emily.

"Um, nothing. I'll tell you later." Chad walked off.

"What was all that about?" Troy walked up beside his sister.

"I, um, don't know." Emily was confused.

"So whatcha doing over at the gym?"

"Oh, Troy, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Troy looked at her. 'He thinks I haven't done anything wrong. But I have!' She thought. Tears came to her eyes thinking about it, although she didn't know why. "Em, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." Her teary voice whispered.

"Em, what are you sorry about? You haven't done anything."

"But I did! You told Gabriella how wonderful and great I was and look how I treated you!" She was crying. She felt just...horrible.

"Em," Troy pulled his sister into a hug, "It's not your fault. You didn't know."

"But I shouldn't have acted that way. You were right, I totally overreacted." She cried into his chest for a minute. Troy pulled her out of the hug.

"Em, don't blame yourself. You didn't overreact. I lied to you. It's not something we do to each other very often."

'That's what he thinks..' Emily thought. She just felt worse about herself. She didn't answer.

"I tell you what? We'll both forget about it. Forget it ever happened. Okay?"

"Okay." Emily sniffed. Troy gave her one more hug before sending her off to 5th period. But who could think of Algebra 2 at a time like this?

* * *

"Ems! PSSST!" Natalie Goodwin whispered. They were in the middle of an Algebra 2 test. 

"Huh? Oh what?" Emily knew what Natalie wanted. The answers. Neither were the strongest in math, but Natalie was the weaker of the two.

"Number 6. Is it x3 or x9?"

"Nat, that's easy! It's x3!" She whispered back.

"Oh." Natalie went back to her paper and marked the answer. Emily rolled her eyes. She had finished her test, but couldn't get up to turn the paper in. She was thinking, a lot.

Her nightmares. 'Why can't they just go away? I mean what do they mean anyways?'

Her and Troy. 'He really likes Gabriella. I just don't want our relationship to fall apart, but Gabriella wouldn't do that. Well, not on purpose.'

Her and Chad. 'What was with that confrontation in the hallway? What did he want to say? Troy has horrible timing.'

'Chad looked nice today..' Emily stopped herself right there. 'Holy crap! What's wrong with me? Chad is like my brother.'

'But not really..'

'Still, he's been like a brother to me.'

'He seems awfully close for a brother.'

"EMS!" Natalie whispered loudly.

"What? Sorry." 'I seem to be saying that a lot.'

"Number 23: Is it A or C?"

"Neither, it's B." Emily whispered back casually.

"Really?" Natalie checked her work again. Emily saw Nat shrug before she circled B.

Emily surrendered herself to her thoughts again. 'Well, he seems sorta close.'

'Sorta? Hello?! Are you clueless?!'

'It's Chad! He doesn't like me!'

'But you like him.'

'No I don't!'

'Yes you do!'

'Ok, maybe a little...'

"EARTH TO EMILY!" Natalie whispered again.

"WHAT?!" Emily yelled. The teacher turned around.

"Ms. Bolton, is there something you wish to share with the class?"

"No, Mrs. Fria." Emily's cheeks turned red.

"Good, now finish your tests class."

Emily spent the rest of the day keeping busy. She didn't want to think anymore. But she couldn't ignore Chad forever.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this chapter! By the way, Emily is in 10th grade and Troy and the gang are in 11th.**

**Review! Jordan has ice cream to give away this time!** **(You suck, Allyn! Besides, I don't have any ice cream! –Jordan)**

**(P.S. I love the chapter, don't you? -Jordan)**


	7. Now or Never

**Ok this might beat Chapter 4 as my favorite. I think you guys will love it. (I love it too! I'm squealing my head off. -Jordan)

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**"Emster!" Chad called to her. Emily tried to ignore him and keep walking. She sped up her pace a bit, but Chad was a basketball player and caught up to her easily. "Emster? Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Oh, no. I guess not." She avoided his eyes. 'There so brown, and so handsome!' She thought. Then she scolded herself for thinking that.

"What's wrong?" He kept walking beside her.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She kept staring at the pavement in front of her. 'Just ten more yards until Troy's car.'

"Emster," Chad caught her arm and turned her to face him, "talk to me."

Emily caught her breath. 'Oh he's so good looking. Emily STOP THIS! He's Troy's best friend!' She tried her best to stare at the ground, or the binder in her hand, or the two kids fighting across campus, anything but look at Chad.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I told you."

"Something's wrong."

"No, it's not. I'm fine."

"Emster, please. You know you can talk to me." He put his finger under her chin and lifted it up, forcing her to look at him. Chad's face was filled with concern.

'A little too much concern for a so-called brother.' Emily scolded herself again.

"I'm _fine. _Now can I get in the car now?"

"Emster-"

"I'm fine, Chad. Really." First she lied to Troy, now Chad? What's happening?

"Ok, but Emster?"

"Yeah?"

"EMILY! CAR! NOW!" Troy called out.

"Nothing." Chad sighed.

"Troy has horrible timing." She laughed.

"Yeah," He smiled, "I'll just see you tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Troy invited me for dinner."

Emily walked to Troy's car. She threw her books in the back and slammed the door shut.

"Since when do you invite Chad over for dinner without telling me?"

"What? Ems, it's Chad. You've never minded before." Troy got so confused.

"Well, um, my rooms just a, um, total mess." Emily made up a horrible lie. 'I can lie when I shouldn't and when I NEED to lie, I can't? What's wrong with that picture?'

"Oh my gosh, Ems!"

"What?"

"YOU LIKE CHAD!"

Emily's face paled.

"No, I don't! Don't be ridiculous!"

"I'm not! You totally like him."

"No, I DON'T! I just hate people coming over with a messy room."

"You didn't care before."

"Boarding school changed me, Troy."

'I know that.' Troy thought, but he decided to leave it alone. Besides, Emily couldn't like Chad. Could she?

* * *

"This is excellent pasta, Mrs. Bolton." Chad stuffed another forkful in his mouth.

"I guess so. You're stuffing it in your mouth like there's no tomorrow." Troy laughed.

Chad caught Emily's eye. She was laughing, too. He blushed slightly and swallowed.

"What? I'm hungry!"

"We realize that, Chadinater." Emily's eye had that twinkle. It was absolutely perfect. _She_ was absolutely perfect.

Chad tried to think back to when he first decided Emily Bolton was the girl for him. One memory stuck out in his mind.

_"Come on, Emster!" Chad pulled her the rest of the way up. The old tree house was creaky and worn, but very sturdy. _

_"I love you and all, Chadinater, but you really gotta pick better activites." She dusted herself off. _

_"You should really get into better shape then." He teased, "Anyways, here." He handed her a package, plainly wrapped. _

_"What is this?"_

_"You're birthday present."_

_"But you gave me one back at the house!" _

_"You mean that lame present? No, that was from my mom."_

_"Chadinater, you're oh so confusing."_

_"I know, but that's why you love me!" The two laughed. "Now, hurry and open it." _

_Emily opened the package to find her favorite story, The Little Mermaid. She smiled to herself. _

_"Thanks, Chadinater." She smiled and hugged him. _

"Chad? You coming or what?" Troy called out to him.

"Coming where?"

"Troy has decided to play two on one." Emily laughed.

"Which two against which one?"

"Me and Em against you." Troy said dribbling the basketball.

"Are you kidding me? Two Boltons against me? I'll never win!" Chad laughed.

"Fine, Em, help Chad."

Emily paled slightly. Chad did, too. Neither noticed the other paling, but Troy noticed.

"Will you two be able to focus on the game working that close?" Troy teased.

Chad gave Troy a look that said 'Shut up'. Troy dropped it and opened the back door, leading them out to the basketball court.

They played two on one for a while, and Chad tried to be 'normal'. Every shot Emily made, he wanted to compliment her, but he knew he shouldn't. 'Chad you gotta snap out of this. This is TROY'S SISTER!'

Emily made a nice shot.

"Good shot, Emster."

"Yeah, for a three-year-old." Troy said.

"Oh, shut up. Let's see how well Gabriella shoots." Emily teased him.

"Leave Gabriella out of this!" Troy retaliated.

"Troy, chill. She was just joking." Chad responded. Troy shook his head.

"Sorry, Em. Hey, I'm thirsty. You guys want something?"

"Water." Chad and Emily said at the same time. Chad swore he saw Emily blush.

"Okay, two waters. Right AFTER I take a shower!" Troy said getting a wiff of himself. Troy entered the house, leaving the two alone.

The two sat on the grass in silence for a while. Emily stared at the sky and Chad picking at some grass.

"Chadinater?"

"Yes?" Chad loved the sound of her voice. The tone could calm him in an instant and after basketball practice, it made him feel energized even if he had been wiped out just a second before.

"You've been trying to tell me something all day. So I think if your going to tell me, now would be a good time. Troy's got a good thirty minute time range in the shower." She laughed.

Chad turned to Emily. He took a deep breath. She was right, it was now or never. "Emster, I just, um.."

"You just um? Well that's interesting." Emily was trying best to keep her cool.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Well, I was wondering..." Chad stared into her eyes. Their gleam captivated him. They were mesmorizing, like a campfire you can't stop staring at.

"Oh they're so gorgeous." She mumbled. 'Oh no...Why didn't that happen in my thoughts like they always do?!' Emily panicked inside her head. She paled and her eyes widened.

"What did you say?" Chad asked. 'Did she just say...? No, she couldn't have. Why would she like me?'

"Um, that, well," she took a deep breath. 'Come on, Em. Now or never.' "I was just saying...that sunset is gorgeous!" Emily lied.

'Crap, Emily. Just say it!'

'Crap, Chad. Just say it!'

"Emster?"

"Ye-" The answer was cut off by Chad lips pressing against hers. Chad pulled back, looking nervous.

"I don't want to be just your friend anymore." Chad whispered, pulling her close.

"Good, because neither do I." She whispered back.

"Finally! Goodness, I wondered how long it would take you two." Troy stood at the backdoor, leaning against the frame and his arms crossed.

"You're dead!" Emily chased Troy around the house, laughing all the way, until finally he locked himself in the room to surrender.

* * *

**Now do you know why I love this chapter so much? Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Please Review!**

**I think Jordan stashed some cookie cake somewhere. :-) (Oh my God, Allyn! You're such a dirty little hypocrite! And I finished my cookie cake, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! -Jordan, who is completely and totally loving this chapter with every fiber in her body)**


	8. Lies Come Out: Part 1

**Hey you guys! I hope I answered all of your questions!  
**  
**xfunkyxfr3shx: Emily doesn't go to the locker rooms, Troy walks up behind her while she's talking to Chad. Sorry if that wasn't clear!  
**  
**Thanks for all the reviews! Keep sending them! (Allyn needs some love! She's stuck in her bed with a crappy laptop, because she's sick as a dog! –Jordan, who wishes Allyn to be better)

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**

"So what do you think of Gabriella?" Emily asked Chad. They were outside in the Bolton's backyard. It had been two days since the dinner. Emily loved to think back on Tuesday, when she showed up holding hands with Chad. 

_"Hey, Em.." The words died on Natalie's lips as she saw Emily. Her eyes got really big and she started squealing. Natalie had never been...shy. "Goodness, it's about time!""What?" Emily asked. Natalie gave her a look like 'We'll talk about it later.' Of course later meant in Algebra 2. Sadie walked casually up to her locker. "Oh hey Chad, Em." She turned to her locker and began loading and unloading books. As she placed her Biology 2 book into her bag, she realized the two were holding hands. "Whoa."_  
_  
Emily banged her head against Chad's arm. "Hello? Pain!" Chad said grabbing his arm."Sorry." She moved over to her locker and proceeded to bang her head there. "Emster, stop that! I really don't want you to get killed." He laughed. Troy ran up to Chad panting. "Chad...team...meeting...in the gym...NOW!" Troy panted. Chad kissed Emily on the forehead and followed after Troy. She heard the girlish squeals all throughout the day._

"I think what's more important is what you think about her." Chad replied letting her lean her head on his chest."I think she's very nice. She's awfully pretty." Emily half thinking out loud. "Not as pretty as you." He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Well of course I knew that!" Emily joked. They both laughed. "You still didn't answer my question." "What?""What do you think of Gabriella?" "She's nice and polite. I think she's good for Troy." Chad said simply. "You're right about that." Emily didn't like to think of her brother with Troy, but he liked her. She couldn't change it.  
**  
**The last rays of sun finally set in the backyard. Emily relaxed against Chad and closed her eyes. She was so tired. The last few nights the nightmares had become more real and more violent than ever. Troy noticed it and Chad did, too. They would both occasionally make comments to her about being tired, but they didn't question her too much.

Chad noticed Emily hadn't been herself lately. She seemed a bit...jumpy. He didn't know what it was, but he assumed it had to do with the murder at her school. He tried to comfort her, to be there when she seemed scared, but she just pretended like nothing was wrong. Sometimes he convinced himself there was nothing wrong with her, but today it was harder to do that. "Emster?" He whispered.  
**  
**Emily didn't respond, and he knew she was sleeping. He didn't dare move. Emily needed all the sleep she could get. Today, she had almost fallen asleep in her food at lunch, and free period she kept nodding off while she stayed and watched the basketball practice. Sadie informed him that she barely payed attention in English or Biology 2. Natalie had told him the same thing about U.S. History, Algebra 2 and Creative Writing.

Emily's nightmare playing in her mind, once again. This time though, it had an interesting twist.

_Emily ran towards the familiar lights of the dorms. She was huffing and puffing her breath and her legs pounded against the earth beneath her. Her eyes fixed on the dorms, but then she noticed a figure in front of them. It was Chad. Beckoning her to come on. A new spurt of energy hit her and sped towards him. The attacker lunged at Emily and she toppled to the ground. The sound of snapping bones filled her ears. Pain shot through her arm. _

She army crawled as best as she could towards Chad. He helped her up gently, but the attacker still advanced. Emily tried to hide behind Chad, but she turned around and he was gone. The ski-mask covered face was two inches in front of hers.

A pressure built on her throat and she realized the man was choking her. Emily tried to scream but nothing came out but faint whispers.

"Sorry, doll, you gotta face me on your own." A gruff voice wafted from the ski mask.

"Emster? Shh. It's me, Chad." Chad shook her gently.

Emily bolted upright to find her body trembling and tears spilling from her eyes. She clung to Chad, trying to rid her mind of the terrifying nightmare. Emily tried to stop her crying, yet she failed. Chad picked her up, like he had when they collided on the sidewalk, and carried her into the house.

"TROY!" Chad called as he placed Emily on the couch.

"What?" Troy walked to the stairs landing. He saw Emily's shaking body and jumped the stairs two at a time. "What happened?!" He glared at Chad.

"I didn't do anything! She was asleep and then she started tossing and turning. Next thing I know, she's crying and shaking. I woke her up but it didn't stop!" Chad couldn't believe Troy could think this was his fault.

Tory leaned down to his sister. "Ems?" He smoothed her hair back. Chad ran into the kitchen to get a cool cloth and some water.

"Troy?" She sat up, still shaking. Troy hugged her and soothed her a bit. Emily could feel his hand on her back, rubbing it, trying to make her feel better. 'He's so great to me, and all I do is lie to him.' She thought.

"Here, baby, drink this." Chad came to her side and gave her the glass of water. She took a sip of water. She set the glass on the side table; the glass was shivering like her hand was. Emily leaned back and closed her eyes. Chad placed the cool cloth on her head.

Tory motioned to Chad for him to follow. They went into the kitchen.

"I'm worried." Troy stated simply. He took a seat at the kitchen tbale.

"Oh and I'm perfectly content about this?"

"Stop being a smart aleck! This is serious." Troy got a bit angry. Her sister had just been shaking like a maniac and he was making jokes about it!

"I know. I just don't know what to do." Chad sat at the table and placed his head in his hands.

"You really care about Em, don't you?" Troy sat up.

"Of course I do." Chad looked up at him, "Did you think I didn't?"

"I didn't know what to think! I didn't exactly imagine my best friend and my sister together!"

"Apparently Em, you and I were the only one's that didn't." Everyone at school was talking about the two that were 'Most Likely To Date' were finally dating.

"What can I say? We're oblivious." Troy laughed slightly. The two sat in silence for a while. The occasional sniffing of Emily entering the kitchen.

"Have you talked to Emster's friends?" Chad broke the silence.

"No, why?" Troy raised his eyebrow.

"Nat told me she's not paying attention in any of her classes. So did Sadie." Chad rubbed his hand across his forehead.

"Really?" Troy felt stupid for being so...out of the loop.

"And she keeps nodding off during lunch and free period." Chad nodded.

Troy hated himself for being so oblivious. His sister was going through something, and he had no clue. "You know, her second night home, she had a nightmare." He said thinking back.

"You think -maybe- she could be having them _every_ night?" Chad asked.

"But, why would she have nightmares? What could have scared her so bad to make them so…terrifying like that?" Troy thought out loud.

It dawned on both of them. _The murder.

* * *

_

**You people probably hate me for putting that kind of cliffhanger. But, that just forces you to read the next chapter! **

Please review! I stole some of Jordan's cupcakes. ;-) (You little…-fill in the blank with some profanity-!! I take that comment about you getting better back! –Jordan)


	9. Lies Come Out: Part 2

**Ok, not too much for me to say, I'm sure you guys are awaiting to see what happens anyways! So, here ya go!

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**

"I'll go home." Chad said. 

"No, you don't have to leave." Troy replied.

"No, you and Emster need to talk about this yourself. I'll see her tomorrow." Chad walked into the living room. Troy watched from the door as Chad said good-bye to Emily.

"I'm going to go, okay?" Chad quietly said.

"No, please stay." Emily pleaded as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You and Troy need to talk. I'll see you tomorrow." Chad kissed her gently and walked out the door.

Emily curled into a ball. Troy quietly entered the room and sat next to her.

"Something you want to tell me, Em?" He stared at the wall in front of him; Emily did the same.

Emily shifted her chin so it rested on her knees. She remained silent, still staring at the wall.

"Em, please tell me. What's going on with you?" Troy turned to face her. She still remained silent. He put his finger under her jaw, turning her to face him. "Please?"

Emily studied Troy's face. It was full of worry and etched with fear. Her guilt raced through her body. 'Why don't I just tell him?' She thought. "I'm fine." She whispered.

"You are NOT fine. People who are fine do not wake up shaking and crying!" Troy became angry.

"Troy, please-" Her voice took on that teary sound again.

He calmed down. "Emily, just tell me. We're all worried about you." He scooted over closer to her and placed his arm around her. She uncurled from her ball and leaned her head on his shoulder.

She launched into the whole story about the nightmares. He listened patiently; squeezing his grip on her when she got scared or upset and made comments where neccessary.

Once she finished, he wasn't angry or upset. Actually, he showed no emotion at all. He looked empty, almost hollow. His reaction was somewhat..scary.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He murmured in a low voice.

"I didn't want to worry you." Emily whispered.

"Too late for that." Troy got up from the couch.

"Please don't be mad, Troy." Emily followed him as he started to walk up the stairs.

"I'm not mad."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Troy, I've known you my whole life! You are angry!"

Troy reached his bedroom door. He turned to face Emily.

"You're not getting any sleep! That's something you should tell me."

"Why? So you can react like this?"

"I'm worried, Em. Chad, Nat, Sadie, Jason and Zeke are all worried, too."

"I'm sorry..I really am. I should have told you."

"You're right you should have." Troy turned around and opened the door.

"Troy, please!" Tears streamed down Emily's face. Troy stopped in his tracks. He closed his eyes and sighed before turning back around.

He walked to her and held her. She cried into his chest for a while. "You're scaring me. I just don't know what to do anymore. You've always been stronger than me. Now that you're acting like this...It just really scares me, Em." Troy confessed.

"It scares me, too." she whispered, "me, too."

* * *

"Have you seen Troy?" She asked Chad in free period. 

"No, your dad is mad. He's missing free period workout."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh dear."

Chad studied her for a moment. "Troy told me."

"Oh, joy." Her voice was drenched in sarcasm.

"Talk to me, Emster." He lifted her chin with his finger.

"I can't get over it," she said after remaining silent for a while, "I can't get the image out of my head."

"What image?" Chad leaned her close to him.

"Her body. Her lifeless, cold body. She was my age. It could have been me." Tears stung her eyes.

"But it wasn't, so don't think like that." He held her. It hurt him to see her like this. Chad had never known Emily to be so scared. She'd always been confident, strong, fearless. But, that one act of violence had changed her forever. Chad had a sudden anger rise in his chest.

He wanted to hurt the person who had caused Emily to be like this. He wanted to kill the man who killed that innocent student and scared his girlfriend into sleepless nights.

"I can't help it. I don't know how to make it stop. These nightmares just torture me." She leaned her head on his shoulder, hoping to push the image out of her mind forever. The sinking feeling came to her stomach as her latest thoughts wove their way back into her mind. "Chad, if I told you something, would you think I was crazy?"

"No."

"I have this sinking feeling.."

"About what?" Chad questioned.

"I think...I'm next."

"Emster, what are you talking about?"

"I think..I was supposed to be the one killed."

* * *

Emily sat at the table with Natalie and Sadie. She was silent, only picking at her food. 

"Ems, what's up?" Sadie looked up from her gossiping with Nat.

"Oh, nothing. Stressful day, that's all." Her bracelet jingled as she poked her fork into some kind of meat the cafeteria had served that day.

"Does it have to do with you running at full speed out of the gym during free period today?" Natalie asked.

"Gee, let's not beat around the bush, Natalie." Sadie glared at Nat.

"Sorry." She sank in her seat a bit.

"You guys, I'm fine." She looked at them.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sadie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm okay, really." Emily stood up and threw away her lunch. She walked up to the roof, only to find her brother there.

"Hey there." She murmured.

"Ems." He said smiling. He pat the seat next to him and Emily walked over. "What's on your mind?"

"Death." She cupped her chin in her hands.

"Death?! Em what's up?" He sat up.

"I'm surprised Chad didn't tell you." Emily sighed.

"I don't have Chad third period, now tell me."

"I think I was supposed to be the one that was killed. Not that other girl." Emily looked down.

"What? Em, that's impossible." Troy scoffed.

"No, it's not! Think about it! You said yourself that girl looked like me!"

Troy thought on this for a moment. He had said this.

"She was my age, my hair color, my eye color and she lived one dorm down from me!"

"But still, Em, I mean-"

"Troy, it's too much of a coincidence!"

"You can't be serious! Come on. Like the murderer's seriously going to track you down all the way in New Mexico to find you and kill you? Em, come on."

"Believe what you want, but I think he will." Emily heard the bell and she left Troy to walk to class by himself.

* * *

**I'm sure most of you think Emily's crazy! Thanks for all the reviews I got just while writing this chapter! **

Please review! Jordan said I can't give away anymore of her desserts, sorry. (HA! And I just made some chocolate chip cooki--I MEAN...I just threw away my baked goods...hehe. -Jordan)


	10. Callbacks & Fights

**You guys are lucky! Three chapters in one day! Possibly four? Wow, being sick does come in handy!

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**

Troy and Emily both had doctor's appointments, and didn't make it until after free period. They arrived to find the school in an absolute uproar. Emily passed Sharpay and Ryan coming into the school. Ryan was ranting and raving about being Punk'd and Sharpay was yelling at him to shut up. She passed them as quickly as possible. 

During third period U.S. History, her father was droning on and on about World War 2. Emily was doodling on her paper and forcing herself to stay awake. She glanced around the classroom only to find half of them asleep. Emily secretly envied those people who could sleep without having haunting images disrupt them. But, right after she thought that, she scolded herself.

"Em, you coming to lunch?" Nat broke her thoughts.

"Oh," she saw everyone standing up walking out of the classroom, "No, I think I'm going to go to the library."

"You sure? Don't you want to eat?"

"No, I'm not hungry. Big breakfast." She smiled through her lie.

Natalie shrugged, "Ok." She turned and walked out of the classroom. Emily watched her go out the door, then busied herself getting her things together.

"Emily, what are you still doing in here?" Her father looked up from the stack of papers he had in front of him.

"I was talking to Nat, but I'm going to lunch now." She lied…again.

"Oh, ok. Have a good day sweetheart." Her father smiled at her and she exited the door.

**_

* * *

_**Emily sat at the back table of the library. She was beating her head on the table. 

"Um...Emily?" A soft voice called out.

Emily looked up to see Gabriella looking back at her.

"Oh, hey Gabriella." Emily went back to banging her head on the table.

"I don't think that's good for your brain." She laughed sitting in the seat beside her.

Emily stopped and propped her chin on the table top.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah." Emily replied simply.

"Want to tell me what?" She gave her an encouraging look.

Next thing Emily knew, she was launching herself again into the story of her nightmares-- to an almost complete stranger. Sure, she saw Gabriella once and a while in the hallways or at lunch, but they never really talked. Something about Gabriella made it comfortable for Emily to talk about it.

"Well, that's quite a story you got there." She remarked.

"What are you doing in here anyway? Shouldn't you be at lunch?" Emily tried to change the subject.

"I accidentally spilt my lunch on Sharpay. I couldn't stay in that cafeteria alive." She laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"Avoiding everyone."

"Well, that didn't work did it?" She smiled gently.

"Apparently not." Emily sighed.

"Emily, you've got great friends around you. I say don't worry about this murder. Put it in the past instead of the present. You can't let it stop your life."

Emily blinked. 'She's right.' she thought. Before Emily could answer, the bell rang and Gabriella whisked off to class, which left Emily feeling alone.

**_

* * *

_**"May I be excused?" Emily stated at the dinner table. 

"Um, Em, you haven't eaten anything." Troy looked at her plate.

"I'm not hungry."

"How can you not be hungry? You're always hungry!"

"I'm not hungry ok?"

"Em-" Troy started before he was interrupted.

"Yes you may." Their father interjected. He sensed the beginning of an argument and wanted to stop it immediately.

Emily threw herself on her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a while thinking about everything. She jumped when her cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Emster." It was Chad.

Emily sat up and smiled to herself. "Hey! What's up?"

"Nothing. Just calling to say I didn't see you in lunch today."

"Oh yeah, I was in the library. I heard there was some major commotion though."

"Yeah, everyone's changing. All because Troy tried out for that stupid musical."

"He WHAT?!?" Emily shrieked.

"Uh-oh." Chad said, but Emily didn't hear him. Or she did but just ignored him.

"Babe, I'm gonna have to call you back." She hung up the phone. She stormed out of her bedroom and stomped down the hall.

Emily threw open Troy's bedroom door.

"Em, what's your problem? Can't you knock?!"

"Something you want to tell me, Troy?"

"Nope."

"Something involving a certain musical?" Emily tapped her foot and crossed her arms.

"Ok, Em, I totally meant to tell you." Troy really didn't want another fight.

"You made it to callbacks?" Her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Yeah." He said quietly.

"With Gabriella?"

"Yeah."

Emily's eyes turned from a glare into a huge smile. "Congrats!" She gave her brother a huge hug.

"What?" Troy was confused. He seemed to be confused a lot lately.

"I'm happy for you. You sounded great when you sang for me the first day back. And Gabriella is a really sweet girl." She smiled at him.

"Really?" Troy didn't sound convinced.

"Of course!" She smiled, "Aren't the other guys?"

"No, not really."

**_

* * *

_**"So, how hard did you go on Troy?" Chad put another forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. 

"I didn't." Emily sat picking at her food…again. She never ate at lunch anymore. Actually, she hardly ate anymore.

"What do you mean 'you didn't'?" Chad couldn't believe this. His girlfriend didn't care that Troy signed up for a musical a week before the championship game.

"I'm happy for him. He's really talented."

"Yeah, in BASKETBALL."

"Why can't he be both?" Emily retorted.

"Because he needs to focus. Who's ever heard of a basketball star singing in the musical?!" Chad fired back.

"So he's being different? Is that a crime?" She retaliated.

"No, but we can't lose-"

"It's a game. Just ONE game."

"It's not just a game, Emster."

"You're his teammates! Shouldn't you be supportive of him?" Emily stood from the table and stormed out of the cafeteria. She bumped into Troy, but kept on walking. Troy walked over to Chad's table and took a seat.

"What was that all about?" Troy said pulling out his lunch.

"N-nothing." Chad said staring at the door Emily had just burst through.

"Dude you okay?" Troy stopped inches from taking the bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He blinked and shook his head.

**_

* * *

_**Emily was sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine, when she heard the front door click shut. 

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you." She said without looking up. Troy froze in his position. His hand was on his father's study's doorknob.

"What?" Troy said.

"Dad's upset with you. Seems like you missed practice today." She said nonchalantly. She flipped another page in her magazine.

"Yeah, well...I heard you got into a fight with Chad today." He tried to retaliate.

"And?"

"So there." Troy said making up anything to say.

Emily lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah, nice comeback." She picked up her magazine and walked upstairs.

"Hey, Em?"

"Yeah?" She turned around on the landing.

"Thanks for sticking up for me with Chad."

"How did you-?"

"Gabriella overheard."

"Oh."

"Thanks, Em."

Emily smiled. "Anytime."

**_

* * *

_**"Hey, Em!" Sadie called out to her. Nat was trailing behind her. 

"Hey guys. What's up?" She smiled.

"Did you break up with Chad?" Nat blurted out.

"Beat around the bush." Sadie mumbled in a sing-song voice.

"Um, no," She laughed, "Why do you say that?"

Natalie and Sadie's faces paled.

"Well, we just saw him with Taylor McKessie. They were whisperi-"

"They were REALLY close and whispering to each other." Natalie interjected.

Sadie smiled and elbowed Natalie hard. Natalie winced and put her hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"What?" Emily's face fell.

"They looked like they were...together." Natalie blurted again. This time Sadie stepped on her foot. Natalie hopped off.

"I'm sure they weren't together." Sadie reassured her.

Emily backed against the lockers and slid gently to the floor. She remained silent.

"Come on, Ems. I'm sure he wouldn't do that."

A single tear slid down Emily's cheek. "Unless we fought."

* * *

**Uh-oh! Emily's friends saw Chad talking with Taylor. Now she thinks he might be cheating on her. Of course if you saw the movie you would know that he wasn't! (Allyn, if they SAW the movie, would they be READING THIS STORY?!?! -Jordan) **

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please Review! (YES! SHE'S LEAVING MY BAKED GOODS/DESSERTS ALONE! -Jordan)

Also, I'm thinking about doing a sequel. What do you guys think?


	11. Nightmares Again?

**Chapter 11!**

**Ok, I'm sitting in my bed because I'm sick. I decided heck why not write some more. My dad told me not to get on the computer but oh well. So here you go!**

* * *

Emily tossed and turned on her bed. She wasn't in a nightmare this time, but instead trying to decipher the information about Chad. Emily found herself, yet again, arguing with herself. 

'He wouldn't do that!'

'But it certainly _looked_ like he was.'

'Oh shut up. He would not be with that know-it-all Taylor.'

'They certainly were close.'

'How do you know? You weren't even there!'

'Yeah, neither were you!'

"Oh my gosh! What is wrong with me?!" Emily plopped her head into the pillow. "I can't believe I'm fighting with myself…and I can't even win!" She spoke into the pillow.

Emily sighed as her cell phone rang beside her. She held the phone above her head – without moving her face from the pillow – and answered then quickly hung up. Two minutes later, the phone rang again.

"Go away." Emily groaned to the phone. She rolled over, squinting her eyes. The phone kept ringing. 'Of course it's going to keep ringing. It's an inanimate object!' She picked up the cell phone and put it to her ear.

"Yes?"

"What kind of greeting is that for your lovely boyfriend?" Chad's voice sounded from the other line.

Emily paled. She didn't want to talk to him. She had no feeling to talk to him. "What have you done lately to make you so lovely?" She said half-teasing.

"Hmm, well I did give you the last cookie Zeke baked." Chad didn't like the fact that Zeke baked, but he did enjoy the by-products of Zeke's hobby.

"Very true," she commented. 'What was I thinking? Chad wouldn't cheat on me. He's not that kind of guy.'

"Something wrong, Emster?" He broke the silence they were sharing.

"I'm just tired, that's all." Emily rubbed her eyes.

"Nightmares again?" His voice laced with worry.

Emily just sighed. She was asked this question so many times a day now, that she didn't even see the point in answering.

"I'll let you go then. You need your rest."

"Ok. Bye." Emily hung up before he could reply. Her eyes didn't leave the phone for a moment. Finally, she rolled right back over with her head in her pillow.

She sat in silence for approximately ten minutes, and then her phone rang. Emily groaned before answering the phone.

"What do you want?" her monotone voice rang.

"Em, Chad just called me. He's worried about you."

"Sadie, he's always worried about me." Emily rolled her eyes.

"He said you seemed distant. This wouldn't have anything to do with that McKessie girl would it?" Sadie ignored Emily.

"Sadie--"

"Because you know, Nat and I aren't always right. We could have easily been wrong."

"Sadie--"

"So really, you shouldn't jump to conclusions. I mean he could have just been asking for help for homework or something." She kept going.

"SADIE!"

"Oh, I'm sorry…were you saying something?"

"Yeah, kinda!" Emily practically yelled.

"Oh, keep going then."

"Well as I was _saying_, I'm just tired." Emily felt like going and banging her head on something hard.

"Nightmares again?" Sadie replied.

"I'm going to bed now, Sadie." Emily sighed.

"You sure you'll be alright?"

"I'm going to bed now."

"Ok. You sure you'll be alright?"

"Goodnight, Sadie." Emily's voice was filled with agitation.

"If you get scared call me!"

"_Goodnight, Sadie_."

"Goodnight." Sadie's voice was filled with defeat.

Emily hung up again. She drew her knees up to her chest and hit her head on her kneecaps. "Shoot me now." She mumbled.

"Rather not do that." Troy stood in the doorway. His arms were folded across his chest and he was leaning against the door frame.

"Go away." Emily grumbled.

"Ooh, someone's crabby." He teased.

"I'm not in the mood, Troy."

"Come on. Lighten up." He ran and jumped, landing next to his sister.

"I'm serious, Troy."

Troy ignored her and began to tickle her. She kicked and hollered, but she wasn't laughing.

"Troy, stop it! STOP IT!" Emily thrashed around. Troy stopped.

"Em, what's wrong?"

"I'm just tired, okay?" Emily rubbed her eyes.

"Nightmares again?" He leaned back on her bed, using his elbows to prop him up.

Emily gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. 'Why can't they just leave me alone?' She thought. "Long day." She managed to get out.

"Ok, I get the hint. I'm going." Troy stood up and walked out the door, but his concerns still weren't gone.

Emily moved back to her original position. Her phone rang…_again_.

"What?" She said angrily.

"Hello, there." A cheerful voice wafted from the ear piece.

"Jason, go away!" She groaned.

"Nope. I can't."

"And why is that?"

"Because, Chad's worried about you."

"Tell me something I _don't_ know, Jason." Emily was getting sick of these phone calls. 'Is twenty minutes of silence too much to ask for?' She thought.

"Come on, Em. You need to talk to us."

"I already talked! Now, I just get asked questions over and over! I wish people would stop treating me different and just leave me alone! I'm fine, okay?" Emily was met with silence on the other end.

"You sound crabby. Are you having those nightmares again?" Jason remarked after a while.

"_Goodnight, Jason._" Emily replied with gritted teeth. She pressed the 'End' button on the phone and tossed it to the end of the bed. Two minutes later, she heard the familiar ring of her cell phone.

"Go away." She answered the phone.

"Why, what a cheerful greeting."

"I mean it: go away."

"You know you love talking to me." Zeke's voice called from the other line.

"Don't you have something to bake?"

"Nope, I'm full of free time. So why don't you tell me what's going on with you and Chad?"

"What's he doing? Starting a phone chain?!"

"No. Well, I don't know considering I don't know what a phone chain is, but whatever." ' Zeke is so oblivious.' Emily thought.

"I'm just tired." Emily answered.

"Nightmares again?"

"Goodbye." She hung up. 'This is getting really old.' She thought. She walked over to her desk and took out a pen and paper.

_Leaving _

_It doesn't matter what you do _

_It doesn't matter what you say_

_When you leave, you leave_

_And that pain never goes away_

Emily crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it randomly out into the room. She took out another sheet of paper. After another dozen crumpled pages – all in only five minutes – her cell phone rang again. Emily screamed in frustration and pounded her head on the table.

"What do you people want from me?!"

"Um, the Algebra 2 answers?" Nat said in a confused tone.

"Oh, hey, Nat." Emily gave her the homework answers and they had a nice little chat. All about normal stuff, too.

"Well, I'm going to go. I'm really tired." Emily concluded.

"Ooh, those nightmares again?"

"I hate you."

"Love you, too! Goodnight!" Natalie hung up. Emily took her battery out of her cell phone. 'There, no more calls tonight.' she thought.

Emily looked at the clock: 11:28. She groaned, rolled her eyes, and let herself fall back on the bed._**

* * *

**_

Emily walked up to school without Troy. He had gone to practice before school with Gabriella in the music room. She had heard parts of the song when Troy would sing them under his breath, but he rarely did this. Their father still hadn't completely approved of the singing, and Troy thought it was best not to mention it. 

She saw Chad walking up the front steps. Emily was about to talk over to him, when an intelligent looking girl walked up to him. _Taylor McKessie_.

"They were right." She said to herself.

"Who was right?" Natalie's voice was loud.

"Nat! Shush!" Emily pointed to the direction Chad and Taylor were talking.

Natalie and Emily watched intently, almost as if it were one of the Wildcats' Basketball games. Taylor and Chad's conversation didn't last very long, but they did get pretty close while they talked.

"What do I do _now_?" Emily sank against her locker after they walked inside.

"About what?" Sadie walked up to her locker and opened it.

"Chad and Taylor were talking outside again." Natalie informed her.

"_Again?_" Sadie questioned.

"Dump him." Natalie said simply.

"WHAT?!" Sadie and Emily responded together.

"Dump him before he dumps you. It saves you a bunch of embarrassment."

"Natalie, that's horrible advice!" Sadie's voice practically echoed through the halls.

"Why? Because I want to save my friend some humiliation?"

"No, because he could not be cheating on her! We could be wrong! She should talk to him."

"No, dump him."

"Talk to him."

"Dump him!"

"Talk to him!"

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Emily screamed at them. She grabbed her messenger bag and went searching for the music room. She needed to find Gabriella. She would know what to do.

She reached the music room, but it was locked. Emily placed her ear to the door. No sound came out. 'They must already be finished.' She thought.

Emily glanced to her side and saw Chad's familiar outline walking down the hall. She quickly turned the other way, trying to make it out before he saw her.

"Emster?"

She froze and winced. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't want to do it just this second.

* * *

**Cliffhangers! I love them! Don't you? (What world do _you_ live in, Allyn? -Jordan)**

**Review :-) (Finally, peace and quiet with my cookies! -Jordan)**


	12. Break Ups & Break Downs

**Chapter 12!!**

**Considering most of you probably won't read this since there was such a HUGE cliffhanger left on the last chapter, I don't think I'll put too much important info up here. **

**Enjoy! )

* * *

**

"Chad." She turned around and plastered a fake smile upon her face. 

"Didn't you see me coming down the hall?"

"Guess not! You know what Troy says. I'm blind as a bat!" She was talking really fast and, to her 'joy', was giggling nervously.

"Emily, what's wrong with you? You've been avoiding me around school and on the phone. Please tell me what's up." He took a step closer.

'He's not making this easy is he?' her voice in her mind said.

'He doesn't make anything easy,' another voice replied.

'Darn it, Em, stop talking to yourself!' She rubbed her forehead.

"Emily, come on. You can tell me. I'm your boyfriend!"

Emily continued to rub her forehead. She was racking her brains for the words, but her searches came up blank.

"Em," Chad started.

" Chad, we need to talk."

"Em, don't you do this." Chad started to suspect what she was going to say.

"I don't think it's working out." Emily lowered her face and her eyes threatened tears.

Chad stood there. The words she said, they just didn't comprehend. It was almost as if he had been slapped, for no apparent reason. And that's how he felt, like he had been slapped.

"Emily--"

"I should go." Emily whispered so he wouldn't hear her voice crack. She walked around him, leaving the hallway. Leaving Chad in silence.**_

* * *

_**

"I'm not hungry!" 

"I haven't seen you eat in days!" Troy yelled at his sister. Ever since she broke up with Chad, she hadn't eaten.

"I haven't seen you eat so much either!"

Troy considered this for a moment. He hadn't. Gabriella had mysteriously stopped talking to him, and he was too depressed to eat at lunch. But usually he would go get a big snack after-school to make up for it.

"Em, just eat some!"

"I'M NOT HUNGRY!" She stood up from the table so fast that she knocked over her chair. Troy only saw the red blur of her Wildcats sweatshirt running up the stairs, then the sound of her door slamming.

Troy listened to the silence of the kitchen. His mother was gone, yet again, on another business trip and his father had a conference in Texas for the weekend. He placed his head in his hands and sighed.

'What's up with her?' He thought. He tried to search through every conversation they had had, trying to find anything that could help him. He thought he almost had it, but the doorbell rang.

Troy walked to the door, mentally cursing whoever it was at the door for interrupting his thoughts. He opened it to find Chad. He was standing there in his Wildcats letterman jacket, and his eyes were full of sadness. He'd been missing shots at practice for a week.

" Chad, she doesn't want to see you."

"I need to see her, Troy." His eyes gave a pleading look. Troy scratched the back of his neck, debating whether or not to let him in.

He sighed and let Chad in. "Emily! Company!" He called upstairs. Chad paced the room in silence and Troy sat on the couch. He put his head back in his hands. They sat for a few minutes in silence.

"Where is she?" Chad stopped pacing and looked at Troy.

"I don't know," he decided to call again, "EMILY! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!"

His call was returned with silence.

"Maybe she knows it's me."

"No, she would have at least yelled down a 'No I'm not coming out!'" Troy's face had deep lines of worry.

"EMILY! PLEASE COME DOWN!" Chad yelled in one last desperate attempt.

Troy heard a faint 'thump' coming from upstairs. He and Chad paled. They gave each other wide-eyed looks before bolting up the stairs. Troy reached the door first and almost fell through it.

He froze once he entered. " Chad, start my car. The keys are on the counter." Troy's face didn't turn and his voice had a touch of panic.

"Troy, what's wro—" Chad stopped. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach and he couldn't catch his breath.

" Chad, GO!" Troy heard Chad's footsteps on the stairs and later on the clicking of the front door. He stood and looked at Emily's collapsed body. She wasn't moving, except for the faint up and down motion of her chest. She was barely breathing. Troy took a deep breath and picked her up. "Please be alright, Em. I'd never forgive myself if you weren't."

* * *

It was Troy's turn to pace the room, while Chad sat still in the waiting room. Jason was bouncing his foot, Zeke was doodling on some paper, Sadie was flipping nervously through a magazine and Natalie was chewing gum frantically. 

Troy's cell phone rang and he stepped outside to answer it. " Troy? I got your voicemail. What's up?" His father's voice wound its way into his ear.

"Em collapsed, Dad." Troy sighed.

"What?" He practically heard his dad stop in his tracks.

"Um, Chad came over and we called her down, but she wouldn't answer. So we went to check up on her and she was lying on the floor not moving." He ran all his words together.

"Ok, ok. Where are you guys now?" Jack Bolton was trying to figure everything out.

"We took her to the hospital; we're waiting for the doctors to come out."

"I'll be on the next flight over."

Troy heard the click on the phone. He walked back into the room to find no one had changed. The hours ticked by slowly. Troy constantly checked the clock: 7, 8, 8:30, 8:34. Every time he checked the clock, the less time had gone by.

" Troy?" The feather-soft voice called out to him.

"Gabriella!" He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her. He knew how to make her feel better. "I thought you were mad at me?"

"I came to see Emily," she turned and walked over to an empty chair.

Troy was staring after her when the doctor walked up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bolton?"

"Yes? Is my sister okay?"

"She's stable at the moment. We've been running tests on her. Sorry for taking so long."

"It's okay. As long as she's okay?"

"Like I said, she's stable at the moment. She's very dehydrated, malnourished and under a lot of stress."

"What does that all mean?"

"We haven't quite diagnosed her yet, so right now we are just treating the main problems."

"Why did she collapse?!" Troy didn't like how he wasn't getting answers.

"Because apparently, she hasn't eaten in a week."

'A week? A week? She hadn't eaten in a whole week? And I didn't notice?' He thought. He felt like he had let Emily down.

"Can we see her?"

"_We?_" The doctor looked at Troy over his glasses.

"Yeah, they're here to see her too." Troy pointed back towards the waiting room.

"I don't know, son. We need to keep her stress level as low as possible."

"We won't stress her out. We promise!" Sadie came up behind Troy.

"Yeah, if anything, we'll calm her down!" Natalie said whisking up behind Sadie.

"Hmm, alright…but only one at a time." He walked back to the front desk to do some things.

" Troy, you go first." Sadie suggested.

"Are you guys sure?" Troy looked at his sister's best friends.

"Of course we are." Natalie smiled at him.

Troy walked over to his sister's hospital room and put his hand on the doorknob. He lingered there for a moment, almost as if to gather his courage, and plunged into the room of machines supporting his sister's life.

* * *

**You know I love cliffhangers! **

**I've been doing research on WebMD to diagnose Emily. I read one disorder thing and it fit PERFECTLY, without me even planning it! It was so creepy! But anyway, you'll find that out in the next chapter!**

**I'd also like to thank my reviewers who review often! You guys are great! **

**Jordan**** just read Chapter 11. She's freaking out. :-) ( Jordan just read Chapter 12. She's ripping her hair out. – Jordan) **

**Review! **


	13. Hospital Fights & Note Passing

**Before I get to the story, (yeah I know, 'oh great, another paragraph separating me from the story') I'd really like to thank the reviewers that have given me such great reviews. You guys are a great support and really keep me motivated to write this story. It also keeps Jordan posting the chapters up in a promptly manner. :-)**

**(Haha, yes. Even if you don't like Allyn, still review, for me. -Jordan)**

**Ok, I shall hold you no longer. Enjoy Chapter 13!

* * *

**

Troy walked into Emily's hospital room. It was full of beeping machines and flashing lights. Emily's fragile body lay on the hospital bed. Her eyes were closed and she had a peaceful look on her face. Troy shuffled closer to Emily's bed. He gently sat on the edge of her bed, looking around and taking it all in. 

He had never stayed in a hospital. Sure, he had been for various injuries from basketball or stupid stunts him and Chad would pull, but he'd never actually had to stay in a room. And he definitely had never been hooked up to so many machines.

He felt choked up looking at Emily's pale face. It looked lifeless. She had almost a dead-like quality to her. Tears stung Troy's eyes just thinking about it. He hated the fact that the only reminder that his sister was alive was the faint beeping of her heart monitor. He hated the fact that she looked so fragile and weak. He hated the fact that he didn't notice sooner. He just hated the fact that she in the hospital at all.

Troy stared at the beige walls in front of him. 'Emily is going to hate this room.' He thought. Emily liked color. Troy thought back to when Emily had begged their mother to let her paint her room stripes of bright blues, oranges, pinks, greens and yellows.

"_Come on, Mom. It's so cute!" Emily pleaded with her mother. _

_Laura Bolton looked at her daughter. In front of her were thousands of paint samples. Leave it to Emily to choose the brightest of them._

"_It's tacky!" Laura replied._

"_No, it's not! It's modern!" Emily's stubborn tone remarked. _

"_You'll never to get to sleep in a room like that!" _

"_Watch me." Emily turned and walked down the paint aisle. _

_Laura sighed and turned to her son, Troy. "Can't you do anything?"_

"_Don't look at me, Mom. If you can't control Emily, what makes you think I can?" Troy replied._

Troy laughed to himself thinking about the memory.

"What's so funny?" A weak voice called out. It was almost at a whisper.

"Em," Troy hugged his sister, "Thank God you're okay."

"Well, as close to okay as I can get right now." She sat herself up a bit.

Troy just looked at his sister. Now that she was awake, her face didn't look as lifeless, but it was still pale and fragile. They sat in silence for a while, the faint beeping and whirring of the machines playing in the background.

"You okay?" Emily asked.

"Should _you_ really be asking _me_ that?" Troy cocked his eyebrow.

"Touché." She replied gently smiling.

"How can you be so carefree?"

"I've spent the past two weeks worrying my butt off. At the moment, I'm not worried. So I'm taking advantage of it."

Troy took a moment to process this. How could she not be worried? She was in a hospital! She collapsed! 'And it's my fault.' Troy thoughts spoke to him.

"Stop blaming yourself, Troy." Emily spoke gently.

"I'm not blaming myself." He lied.

"I've known you my whole life, Troy. I know that face." She gave him a look of concern.

Emily knew. She knew what Troy was thinking. He gave up pretending and decided to let out all of his thoughts he had bottled up inside.

"I just keep thinking: 'What if I had noticed sooner?' 'What if I hadn't spent so much time at basketball?' I mean, Em, I'm your brother. I should have seen these kinds of things. I should have thought of it when you told me about the nightmares. I should have told Mom and Dad. I should have done SOMETHING!" He had begun to pace the room.

Emily waited patiently until he finished before she started. "Troy, you couldn't have possibly known. I barely knew! No one thought I could get this bad, including me. It's my fault I'm in this hospital bed. No one else's. I'm the one that didn't eat. I'm the one that didn't talk to anyone. Please stop blaming yourself. It doesn't help anyone." Emily spoke eloquently and with confidence.

Troy didn't know how to respond. She had never talked to him that way before. He never heard her speak like that at all. Her words stung slightly. She had revealed the truth. Troy didn't want to see this as his sister's fault. He didn't want to see her as she did something wrong.

"Ok, Em." He sighed. He gave his sister a hug before he left the room.

Troy closed the door behind him and Emily let out a small sigh. She was alone, again. Little did she know a whole crew was outside debating who got to see her next.

**_(GOD JORDAN put a line here already!)_**

"No, Sadie should go next."

"GO!" Gabriella, Sadie and Natalie screamed at him in unison.

He blinked and shook his head as he began to walk towards Emily's hospital room. 'Girls.' He rolled his eyes at the thought. He stopped in front of the door and turned around. The girls were all staring at him and giving him pleading looks to go inside.

Chad looked back at the door, sighed, and entered.

Entering the hospital room and seeing Emily in her bed, connected to all kinds of machines, made everything seem – surreal.

"Hey, Emster." Chad said softly.

Emily just blinked.**_

* * *

_**

**The End! **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Review! (Yes, reviewing is quite awesome! –Jordan)**

**Ok, ok. I'm joking. Don't have a cow! What does that mean anyway? 'Don't have a cow!' **

**Hmmm…what was I doing? Oh yes! The chapter! Continuing on now! (Hmm, does this _remind anyone of something?!?! Maybe something that a certain author has already done??_ Allyn, you copycat! Haha, just kidding, I love you, even though you totally stole my idea! -Jordan)**_**

* * *

**_

Gabriella, Sadie and Natalie all put their ears to the door. The conversation was muffled, but they could make out the argument. 

"Why are you so mad at me?"

"Oh don't act like you don't know!" Emily retorted.

"I'M NOT ACTING, EM!" Chad's voice was full of frustration.

"Just go." Emily's soft voice sounded.

"Em," Chad started.

"GO!" Emily's teary voice cried out.

The girls backed away from the door as Chad stepped out. He took one look at them with hurt in his eyes.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea," Chad walked into the waiting room and out of the hospital.

The girls exchanged looks. "Gabriella, you go," Nat offered.

Gabriella nodded and slowly entered the room.

"Hey, Emily." She spoke softly.

Emily sniffed in her bed. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her forehead was propped on her kneecaps. Emily let out a new round of sobs after hearing Gabriella's voice.

"Oh, Emily," Gabriella quickly walked over to her bed and sat beside her. She put her arm around Emily. "Want to talk about it?" She asked.

Emily shook with sobs for a moment. She picked up her head and rested her chin on her knees. Then, she made a pathetic attempt to wipe away her tears. "He's nothing but a stupid jock!" Emily cried.

"I know what you mean," Gabriella sighed and leaned her head on Emily's, "I know what you mean."

After Gabriella finished calming Emily down, the rest of the gang took their turns visiting her. Zeke gave her some cookies during his visit. Jason bought her a soda and talked about the recent CSI: Miami that aired. Sadie chatted with her about the cute new guy that sits in front of her in Algebra 2 and Natalie told Emily about when she got to the hospital, she ran up to the doctors yelling French at them because she was so worried. Each and every one of them made her feel better in their own way.

After the gang left, Troy was allowed to come back in and stay with her. This time, Troy didn't enter alone.

"Daddy!" Emily sat up with a huge smile on her face.

"Em," their father's face was relieved as he held his daughter in his arms, "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Dad." She answered in a monotone voice. She had been asked that at least seven times.

"Of course you are." Jack Bolton smiled. There was a knock on the door. Troy and Jack turned around to face the stately doctor that Troy had talked to before, standing there with Emily's file in his hands. Jack and Troy followed the doctor into the hallway.

"We have her diagnosis." The doctor said simply. The two Boltons stood in silence for a moment waiting for the doctor to continue.

"Ok, and?" Troy asked.

"Oh, yes. Well, Emily has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD. We think it was caused by the murder that happened. Answer this. Did she feel threatened or greatly upset by this?" The doctor looked at Jack questioning look.

"Yeah, she was. She thought," Troy gulped, "she was supposed to be killed. Like he was coming to get her."

"That fits in with the disorder. Most who suffer from this feel like they won't live for long, for no apparent reason. Has she had any nightmares or vivid flashbacks of this incident?"

"Yeah, she had horrible nightmares. They kept her from sleeping." Troy ran his hands through his hair.

"Did she avoid reminders of this event afterwards? News reports and such?" The doctor asked again.

"Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure she did." Jack chimed in.

"Mmhmm. Well, you mentioned the difficulty sleeping. How about outbursts of anger or agitation? Difficulty concentrating? Or fearing for her safety?"

"Yeah, all of it. That's what she's been telling us!"

"Yes, well that's the symptoms of PTSD." He scribbled some notes on the file.

"How do you treat it?" Jack asked the doctor.

"We'll start her out with some simple anti-depressants and we'll schedule her a therapy session. After that, we'll see how she turns out and go from there. Okay?"

"Sounds good." Jack shook the doctor's hand.

"Um, when can she go home?" Troy questioned.

"Hmm, I guess whenever she's ready." With that, the doctor walked away._**

* * *

**_

"Oh, Emily." Troy called out in a sing-song voice. 

"Go away," Emily groaned.

"Emily." He called again in the same voice.

Emily's response was another groan.

"Time to get up," His sing-song voice floated through the room.

Emily put her head under her pillow to muffle the sound of his voice. Troy started to tickle Emily and the two laughed until their stomachs hurt.

"Okay, okay. I'm up! Please stop!" Emily managed through her bursts of laughter. Troy let go of her. The old Emily was back. The twinkle in her eye was fully restored. Her laughter back to it's old light-hearted tune. Her smile was back to its old lust.

It relieved Troy greatly that she was back to normal. Everything was back to normal. Well, almost.

'I wish Gabriella would talk to me.' His thoughts turned sad.

"Troy? What's wrong?" Emily looked concerned.

"Oh, nothing," he lied.

"You're thinking about her aren't you?" Emily asked softly.

"Yeah, but hey. Enough of that. Let's shoot some hoops!"

"Fine. Race you down the stairs!"

"Ok. But I count. Ready? Set?" Troy gently shoved Emily down on her bed before yelling "GO!" and racing down the stairs.

"THAT'S CHEATING!" Emily screeched as she slid down the stair banister.

"Emily! However could you accuse me of such a thing?" Troy said in mock hurt, "I'm a Bolton. We Boltons never cheat!" A sly grin plastered across his face.

"Oh shut up, Bolton, and throw the stupid ball." Emily teased back._**

* * *

**_

"Now, class, we are moving onto Chapter 7." Emily's Biology teacher announced. 

"How is that possible? I don't even remember Chapter 6!" someone whispered in the back.

Emily laughed to herself and started doodling on her paper. Suddenly a folded piece of paper landed on her desk. She unfolded it and read:

_So, remind me. Why won't you talk to Chad?_

_-- Sadie_

Emily sighed and wrote back:

**There's nothing to talk about. He cheated on me. End of story.**

_But we don't know for sure if he did cheat. He could have just been, well, I don't know._

**Exactly! What other explanation would he have been talking to Taylor McKessie?**

_Homework? _

**Nice try, Sadie **

_He just looks so miserable! _

**Then why did I see him talking to Taylor again in the lunch room yesterday? **

_...Homework? _

**No, now stop that! **

_Can't you just talk to him? _

**NO! **

_Aww, come on, Em. He still loves you, I know it! _

**Does the word 'no' mean anything to you?**

_Not exactly..._

**Shouldn't you be paying attention to the lesson? **

_Shouldn't you? _

**I hate you. **

_Ooh, bell's about to ring! Bye! _

Emily rolled her eyes as she read over the note again. Then, the bell rang. Emily tossed the note randomly into her messenger bag along with her Bio book. She walked calmly into the hall amongst the chaos.

"SIS!" Troy yelled down the hall.

"BRO!" Emily yelled back. Troy ran towards her.

"I just had a thought! Why don't you talk to Gabriella? You can get her to forgive me right?"

"I don't know, Troy…"

"Come on! Please? I'm desperate!" Troy gave her his pleading look.

"Fine," Emily sighed.

"Good, she's waiting in the library for you right now. Good luck! Bye!" Troy ran his words closely together and sped for the other end of the hall.

Emily stood there with a confused look on her face. Finally, she shrugged and headed for the library._**

* * *

**_

"Gabriella?" She called softly. 

"Emily!" Gabriella looked up from the book she was reading. Her face lit up when she saw her. "Come, have a seat," she patted the chair beside her.

"When are you going to learn that my friends call me Ems?" She laughed while taking the seat beside Gabriella.

"Ok. Hello, _Ems,_" she laughed, "To what do I owe this great pleasure?"

"It's about Troy."

"I should get really get going." Gabriella started packing her stuff up.

"Come on, Gabriella. Talk to me."

Gabriella just looked at her apprehensively.

"It's not fair that I pour out my life history to you and you don't give me a single thing." Emily teased.

"Why should I forgive him? Everyone tells me to forgive him, except for the Decathlon team." She said, half-thinking out loud.

"Because he didn't do anything?" Emily offered.

"Are you kidding me? He told the basketball team that I didn't matter." Gabriella's eyes teared up thinking about it.

"WHAT?!?" Emily screeched.

* * *

**Cliffhangers. ****Fun! Fun:-) **

**Also, all my information on PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) I got from WebMD.**

**They have a lot of useful information if you guys ever need to look up something medical for a story!**

**Thanks for my reviewers! I seriously love you guys to death!**

**Review! Jordan doesn't know this, but I baked some cookies last night :-) (HOW DARE YOU, ALLYN?!?! Ah, it's okay, I made some cookies myself. But I finished them all, heehee. –Jordan)**

**(P.S. Allyn and I are pretty pissed at this guy who lead our friend on, so we might not be updating until tomorrow. Who knows? –Jordan)**

**(P.P.S. Yes, Natalie is based off of yours truly. Natalie yelling in French at a doctor is what I would do. Well, after I learn French, they don't offer it at my middle school for high school credit. –Jordan)**


	14. Leave Us Alone!

**Chapter 14: Leave Us Alone**

**I've gotten a lot of reviews about how you like my quick updates. I'm glad. I love writing and I have so many ideas that if I don't go ahead and write the next chapter, I forget what I wanted to happen!**

**Ok, If I don't finish this author's note then I'm going to forget what I wanted to happen. So, here we go! (Haha, she repeated herself! -Jordan)

* * *

**

"TROY ALEXANDER BOLTON!" Emily screamed at him at the lunch table. 

"Em, I'm right here. And you promised never to say my full name in public!" he hissed.

"YOU. ME. NOW!" she grabbed his shirt and dragged him up the stairs to the roof. Emily practically threw Troy into the bench. "WHY DID YOU SAY THAT STUFF ABOUT GABRIELLA?!" her voice was filled with pure rage.

The pigeons on the roof flew away at the sound of her voice. 'They know what to do,' Troy thought.

"WHAT?! I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT GABRIELLA!" Troy was, yet again, confused.

"Yes you did! You told the basketball team that she meant nothing to you. Care to explain, dear brother?" Sarcasm was dripping off of her voice at the last remark.

"Oh my God. She heard that?"

"Yeah. KINDA!" Emily began to pace back in forth in front of him.

"Whoa. She was totally not supposed to hear that."

"WHY DID YOU SAY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Emily was practically spazzing out.

"Look. I didn't mean it. The guys were bugging me about the musical, so I just said something to get them to leave me alone. Chad—"

"Chad? He bugged you about Gabriella?"

'Crap,' Troy thought. "Well, yeah. Sorta. Kinda. Ok a lot. He thought I wasn't going to win the game if I was doing the musical with Gabriella."

"I'm sorry, Troy. Something just came up. I need to go kill someone, now," Emily began to walk off but Troy caught her arm.

"Em, please don't make a big deal out of this."

"Too late!" Emily tried to walk off again but Troy still had her arm.

"Remember what the doctor said, you need to keep your anxiety level DOWN."

"This isn't anxiety. This is Emily Bolton pissed at a certain Chad Danforth!" She broke free of his grip and stormed down the stairs. From the stairs she blew through the hallways and into the cafeteria. She made her way to Chad's lunch table.

The next thing Chad knew, he was being grabbed by his sweatshirt and thrown into the deserted hallway.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Emily pushed him against the lockers.

"What are you talking about?" Chad rubbed his shoulder.

"Your little scheme. In the locker room," Emily glared at him. The same glare that could turn boiling water to ice.

Chad shivered when he saw that look. "What sche-. Oooh."

"'Oooh' is right," Emily's fists tightened.

"You know," he laughed nervously. "You're really cute when you're angry like this."

"Shut up, Chad," she spat. Chad's eyes widened. She'd never been this angry before. "You're a filthy hypocrite. You said yourself Gabriella was good for Troy! Then you go and you do THIS? How dare you? Not only have you made both of them miserable, but you lied to them. Plus, I saw Troy shooting yesterday. He didn't make a single shot. Good luck winning your precious championship." She stormed off to her locker.

"Emily, wait." Chad ran after her.

"Go away," Emily kept walking

"Em, please. Listen to me."

Emily turned around. "I don't want to _listen, _Chad. I want you to just go ahead and leave Troy AND me alone. You've ruined our lives enough, don't you think?"

"I don't know what I did to make you so angry at me. But--" He stepped closer to her.

"But nothing. I mean it. Leave us alone, Danforth." With that, Emily stalked off angrily.

**_(JORDAN PLEASE DO NOT BOLD AND ITALICIZE THIS!! PUT A LINE!) (Heehee! -Jordan)

* * *

_**_Hello Mon cheri :-) _

_-- Nat_

**Nat, you know I don't speak French. Besides, shouldn't you be paying attention in Algebra 2?**

_It means my darling. Goodness! Besides, why pay attention in Algebra 2 when you give me all the answers? _

**How can I give you the answers if I'm not paying attention either?**

_Touché _

**Shouldn't you be making this period the least bit productive?**

_I am! I taught you some French! _

…**I'm going to hold back on any mean comments I could say about you**

_Thank you_

**Anytime **

So, I heard there was a fight with Chad

**…I knew it **

_Knew what?_

**This couldn't be just a note for boredom's sake. It had to be about 'Chad' **

_Well, at least I got your hopes up a little before crushed it like a tiny bug :-)_

**I hate you **

_No you don't_

**Yes, I do **

_Whatever_

**Please go away now **

_This is a note. How can you go away with a note? _

**Stop replying **

_But why can't YOU stop replying? _

**Touché **

_HA! You wrote back… _

Emily held the note up so Natalie could see it and crumpled it into a ball. She turned to Natalie and smiled sweetly. Natalie busted out laughing.

"Ms. Bolton. Ms. Goodwin. Is something funny about my teaching?" Mrs. Fria turned around.

"No, ma'am," the two girls answered in unison. Emily held back her snickers as she turned around and continued to teach the class.

* * *

"EMILY!" Troy ran into the house and tackled his sister in a hug. 

"Nice to see you, too, Troy," she laughed.

"Gabriella forgave me! I don't know what you did, but it worked!"

"That's great!" Emily smiled big. Then she thought of her fight with Chad. Her smile slowly faded.

"Em, what's wrong?" Troy's smile faded, too.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Em. You know what happened last time."

"Yes, I'm perfectly aware of what happened last time, Troy," she retorted. He was, of course, referring to the series of lies that ultimately led to her hospital visit.

"Em, what's wrong?"

"Just a fight with Chad," she turned away.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Emily walked upstairs.

"Talk to me, Em," Troy followed her.

"There's nothing to talk about. I got mad. I yelled at him. End of story," she walked into her room.

"You seem pretty agitated for that to be the only thing on your mind," Troy leaned against her door frame.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Emily absentmindedly flipped through her text books.

"Nope. I finished my practice for today."

"Well, maybe you should go make sure your showerhead approves," Emily teased.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," he replied.

"I know. I crack myself up."

"You crack your mirror when you look in it," Troy teased.

"Troy, you really shouldn't talk about yourself like that," Emily said in mock concern.

"That's it! You win! I'm going to Gabriella's," Troy walked down the stairs and out the front door.

Emily continued to flip through the text book for about five minutes. Suddenly, the door bell rang.

"Troy, you really need to remember your keys," she muttered under her breath as she walked down the stairs.

Emily opened the front door to find, not Troy, but Chad.

Before Emily could say anything, Chad took her in his arms and gave her a heartwarming kiss on the lips.

* * *

**The End! **

**No seriously, this is the end! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. (Yes, I'm afraid it is. -Jordan)**

**Please Review! **

**You guys, I'm serious. It's the end of the chapter. (Yeah, scroll down! Oh wait, you can't! Well, that's because it's the end of the chapter!! -Jordan)**

**Remember how much you love me:-D (OMGOMGOMGIKNOWWHATHAPPENSNEXT!!-Jordan)**


	15. A Killer Revealed

**Chapter 15: A Killer Revealed**

**Gotta love the cliffhangers! (…I shall say nothing about that. –Jordan)**

**Ohsofili: (I think that's who asked, if not I'm sorry. I don't have Internet access on this laptop.) When I'm saying 'The End' I mean of the chapter. When it's the last chapter of the story I will notify you!**

**Until then, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chad was fully expecting Emily to pull apart from him and slap him. He didn't care. He missed her touch, longed for her scent and yearned for her kiss. He missed her. All too much.

But, Emily didn't pull apart from the sudden kiss. To Chad's surprise, she returned it.

Emily had felt the same as Chad. She missed him, even if he had betrayed her trust. They were perfect together. Emily couldn't understand why Chad hadn't seen that.

Emily broke apart suddenly. She turned away, hiding her face, and took a few steps away from him.

"Em," He started.

"I told you to leave us alone," She whispered.

"Emily, you really need to talk to me."

"No, I really don't," she turned to face him.

"You can't just break up with someone and not tell them why," his voice was full of frustration and anger.

"You can't just walk up to my door and kiss me!" she shrieked.

"You kissed back! That has to mean something, Ems."

"It was a mistake. Please just go."

"Why?"

"Because," tears fell from her eyes, "being this close to you. It hurts."

"Em. Please. Tell me what I did. I'll make it up to you, I swear," Chad pleaded.

"Please go." She whispered so her voice wouldn't crack.

Chad shook his head and took a step towards her. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong, Em."

"Don't," she said as he tried to take hold of her hand, "touch me."

With that, Chad gave up. He left the house and decided: It's time to move on.

(I'm serious Jordan. DO NOT BOLD AND/OR ITALICIZE THIS! It's mean for a LINE to go here!)(You forgot underlining. Hehe. -Jordan)

* * *

"Sis? I'm home!" Troy walked through the front door.

Troy only heard a sniff from the couch. He turned that way to see his sister curled into a ball.

"Emily!" he ran to her, "What's wrong? Nightmares?" He got worried. 'Not the nightmares again. Anything but the nightmares. She was getting better! I don't want them to take her away again.' Troy's thoughts screamed in his head.

Emily gently shook her head. "Chad stopped by after you left."

She sounded like she had been crying for a while. Mascara was running down her face and her cheeks were red and blotchy. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was a mess.

"Troy," she added, "he kissed me."

Troy didn't know how to respond. "Well," he searched for something to say, "how did you react?"

"I kissed back." She buried her head in her crossed arms.

Troy felt his jaw drop. He had expected her to slap him, kick him, punch him or yell at him. Anything but _kiss back_. But, his sister did like to surprise him.

"W-why?"

"I don't know!" she got defensive tones in her voice, "I wasn't thinking! I just reacted!"

"Ok. Ok." Troy held out his hands in defense.

"I just…miss him, that's all." Emily sighed.

The two Boltons remained silent for a moment.

"Wanna talk about it?" Troy finally responded.

"No," She said simply and walked up the stairs and into her room.

**_

* * *

_**

Emily collapsed on her bed in a huge sigh. 'Life's too complicated.'

She stared at the wall for who knew how long. Finally, she rolled over and went to sleep.

_Emily huffed and puffed her way down the rugged path in the woods. The dorm lights were still on. 'I can make it,' she thought. Her feet pounded the dirt ground with extra force as she sped up. _

_She was only a few yards from the dorms now. Suddenly, the ground met Emily's face with a sharp pain. Emily cried out as shooting pains shot through her arm. She scrambled up. _

_The next thing she knew she was slammed against the brick wall of the dorms. A cold gruff voice came from the man holding her by her throat. "You knew I was coming." _

Emily jumped up in her bed. Her shirt was soaked through with sweat. Emily was terrified.

One thought ran through her mind: She knew that voice.

Emily jumped up and searched through her drawers frantically.

"Come on. Come on. I know you're in here," she said to herself as she threw random things out of the drawer. Finally, she found it; her boarding school yearbook.

She practically tore the pages she was flipping through them so fast. Her finger trailed across the paper until she found the face she was looking for.

'Michael Bryans' the caption said under his picture. Emily shivered looking at his picture. She was staring at the same eyes that had haunted her dreams.

_**

* * *

**_

_What's wrong with you?_

_-- Sadie_

Nothing 

_Something's wrong. Please tell? _

Emily balled up the note. She ignored Sadie's attempts to make eye contact with her during the rest of the period, too. Emily was slowly starting turning into the PTSD Emily again. She didn't sleep last night. She couldn't pay attention in class. And she couldn't shake this haunting feeling that Michael was out to get her.

The bell rang and she packed up her things and headed to lunch. Emily passed right by her friends' table and headed for the roof with her lunch.

She ate a few bites, but quickly set it aside. She began to stare out onto the surrounding landscape that could be seen from her seat.

"_Ms. Bolton, do you have any leads on who might have done this?" the detective paced in front of her._

"_Um," she stuttered, "There is this one boy…" _

"_What's his name?" His partner cut in._

"_Michael Bryans," she said quietly._

"_We'll look into him," he wrote the name down, "Good evening, Ms. Bolton." _

Emily knew Michael did it. She knew it. Willow Rembrant was such a pretty girl. Her and Michael were the cutest couple. But, Willow said he was abusive. She had told Emily late one night. Finally, Willow got the courage to break up with Michael. Emily ended up overhearing.

"_I'm tired of you beating me all the time. You push me around and this time I'm pushing back!" Willow's voice screamed at him._

"_You don't want to do that." Michael's voice was menacing._

"_Michael, please. Just leave me alone." Willow tried to leave._

"_You're not leaving." _

"_Yes, I am," Willow walked towards the door. _

"_Fine, but you leave and you won't be alive much longer!" Michael's screamed at her._

"_Whatever, Michael." Willow rolled her eyes as she left._

The next night, Willow was found dead.

A tear slid silently down Emily's cheek.

"Em?" Her brother's voice softly called out. He walked over and sat down next to her gently.

Emily continued to face away from him, out onto the breath-taking landscape below. "She was my friend," she said in a raspy voice.

Troy knew what she was talking about. He didn't know how, but he just knew. "I'm so sorry, Em."

"He told her. He told her he would kill her. I should have told someone. I should have said something," Emily began to shake with sobs.

"Em, what are you talking about?" Troy had never heard her talk like this. When she had ranted about the murder – just after it happened – she had never mentioned anyone but Willow.

Emily told the story of the argument. Once she finished, she added, "He knows I saw. He's going to kill me, Troy. I just know it!"

For some reason, Troy knew that she was serious. He knew it wasn't the PTSD talking, and – he didn't know why but – he started to believe her.

"Oh God, Em." He pulled her into a hug. Emily cried into his shoulder for a while.

"I thought it was supposed to be me. It wasn't. It was supposed to be Willow, but I'm next. I don't know why I didn't see it before. I completely forgot about Michael until…"

"Until what?"

"He's the one in my nightmares, Troy. He's the one that's killing me in my nightmares. Now he's going to kill me in real life!" Emily began crying in his shoulder once more. Her brother held her close, almost as if trying to protect her.

"Shhh. It's going to be okay. I promise. I won't let anything happen to you, Em," he whispered in her ear and held her tighter.

**_

* * *

_**

"Emily!"

Emily ignored him as she walked towards Troy's car. She just needed to get home. Troy explained the situation to their father and he gave them permission to go home.

"Emily, wait!" He grabbed her arm.

"LEAVE ME ALONE, CHAD!" she shrieked at him.

"Em, you have to listen to me." He grabbed her shoulders.

"GET OFF OF ME!" She slapped his hands away and more tears slid down her cheeks.

"Chad," Troy ran between them, "What is your problem?"

"I just want to talk to her, dude."

"Well can you not see she's going through something right now?" Troy motioned towards his crying sister. Troy didn't wait for Chad to answer. He gently put his hands on Emily's shoulders and steered her towards the car.

_**

* * *

"I'm going to my room." Emily announced once they got home.**_

"Call me if you need anything." Troy nodded.

She walked up to her room and sat in silence. Somehow, she fell asleep on her bed.

"_You can't run anymore, Emily," the gruff voice said still holding the death grip on her throat. _

_She struggled against him. Her hands clenched tight around the hand tightening on her airway. She kicked and flailed, trying to knock him down in any way. He laughed at her pathetic attempts._

"_You're not going to win. You shouldn't have told the cops about me," he tightened the grip and Emily's face began to turn blue. _

_Her vision began to blur. Suddenly, she heard a clicking noise. Michael had a gun pointed at her head. _

_Tears streamed quicker down her face. _

"_Sorry, Emily," his almost sing-song voice rang out. Michael laughed as he squeezed the trigger._

Emily sat up in her bed screaming at the top of her lungs. Her heart was pounding and her face was glistening with sweat. She jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" She tried to sound calm.

"Long time, no see, huh, Emily?" the voice answered on the other line.

Emily's eyes widened and her face went pure white. Her body began to tremble and her heart was about to explode in her chest.

"Oh, Emily. Not going to talk to your old friend? Well that's okay. I was going to do all the talking anyway."

Emily gulped. She was terrified and could barely hear Michael Bryans's voice over the sound of her heart pounding.

"I know you told about me, Emily. It's okay," he paused before continuing, "You know, you aren't the easiest person to track down, Ms. Bolton. It took me quite awhile to find you. How's the weather in Albuquerque? I hear it's quite nice down there. But, I guess I'll find out soon enough."

Emily began to breathe heavily through her trembling.

"East High. It's a lovely school. And, wow, that house of yours. It's a nice one, Bolton. Can't wait to see the inside. Well, I really must go. I have a long trip to make if I'm going all the way to New Mexico. Oh and Emily," he added, "Enjoy the sunshine while you can."

The line clicked dead. Emily was left holding the phone. Her body was still trembling, her heart still pound and her face drenched in terror.

Michael _was_ going to kill her.

* * *

**And now we draw to the close of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I tried to fill it with suspense and drama. (I'm hyperventilating; this chapter is THAT good. –Jordan)**

**I am sorry to say that this chapter is the beginning of the end. Yes, the story is drawing to a close. (Yes, quite sad, but I do know what the sequel will be like!! YAY! –Jordan)**

**I was thinking of a sequel. What do you guys think? (Allyn, you and I both know that we're going to do a sequel anyway! –Jordan)**

**Well, please review! (Yes, please do. -Jordan)**


	16. Or so They Thought

**Chapter 16 **

**Ok, I just finished Chapter 15. I'm home sick so I'm just continuously writing. Therefore, I really have nothing to say up here. I'm sure Jordan will add some stupid remark. (You know me oh too well...Wait, MY REMARKS AREN'T STUPID!!– Jordan)**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**

* * *

**"TROY!" Emily's voice was shaky. That might be due to the fact that her whole body was shaking as if it were below freezing. 

Her brother burst into her room. His eyes full of concern. "What? What happened?" he came and sat on the bed next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Michael just called. He's going to kill me, Troy. He knows where I am, what school I go to, where we live…" she didn't continue. Tears poured out of Emily's eyes. She was terrified.

Troy pulled his sister into a hug. She was in serious danger now. She was being threatened! Troy couldn't risk losing his sister.

"Where are you going?" her teary voice called out as he released her and walked towards the door.

"To call the police," and with that, he turned on his heel and walked out into the hallway.

* * *

"Thank you, officers." Jack Bolton shut the door behind the cops as they left.

"Why can't they do anything, Dad?" Troy asked in anger.

"They have too much to deal with than to worry about 'a little girl who's hallucinating'," his father rolled his eyes.

"Well, when Emily shows up on the side of the road dead, I hope they show this family some damn sympathy." Troy screamed as he stormed up the stairs.

"TROY BOLTON DON'T USE THAT LANGUAGE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD!" Jack bellowed at his son. His yelling was met with the slamming of Troy's door.

Troy's anger began to rule him. He was so angry. 'Who would want to hurt Emily like that? Well, if he does, I'm going to ring his neck and…' Troy's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of his weeping sister standing in his doorway.

"You're the best brother ever, Troy. I want you to know that," she whispered.

"Em," he stood up and engulfed her in a hug, "Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise."

"You can't promise that. He killed Willow, and now he's going to kill me," she sobbed.

"Don't worry about it. I'm here, Em. I'm not going to let anything get you."

* * *

Emily reluctantly went to school, but barely made it through first period without walking down to her father's room, begging to go home. Everyone had heard about the phone call and she was whispered at down the hallways. Emily had gotten so paranoid.

Troy wanted to drive her home, but their father said she could easily walk. She told Troy it was fine. She'd just run home. He laughed at her joke before setting her off.

Emily walked into the school parking lot haphazardly. She had the eerie feeling she was being watched. She whipped her head around the parking lot, but no one was around.

Or so she thought.

Emily felt a hand on her mouth and an arm pinning her arms down. She kicked and flailed, but the person was too strong.

"Don't fight it, Emily. You knew I was coming," the gruff voice that had haunted her dreams wafted into her ears. This time it was reality.

Emily heard her heart pounding in her ears. She began breathing heavy and her forehead gleamed with sweat. Emily suddenly had an idea. Quickly, Emily bit Michael's hand.

He screeched in pain and released his hold on her. Emily shot off like a rocket running into the school. "HELP. TROY! JASON! ZEKE! SOMEBODY!" she tore through the school.

She turned the corner and hit the ground. Michael had tripped her. Her knee throbbed with pain. Emily winced and held her knee.

"Told you not to fight it, Emily," he walked towards her. She crawled towards her father's classroom. The guys were in there this period.

"HELP! HELP! TROY!" she used all of the breath she had.

Michael pounced on her. He dragged her off into an empty classroom before anyone saw him.

Or so he thought.

* * *

Chad watched from around the corner. He didn't dare move.

That guy had a gun.

As soon as the coast was clear, Chad ran like a mad man to Coach Bolton's room.

"COACH! EMILY'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

"Oh, shit," Troy said. He stood up and walked over to Chad. "Where is she?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. He carried her around the corner. Troy," he said slowing down, "he has a gun."

Troy's eyes widened and fear flooded his eyes. "We have to find her NOW!"

"Troy Bolton, you will not go chasing a killer," his father boomed.

"Oh yeah? Well he's got my sister."

"I don't care. You will not leave this room to find an armed maniac!"

"Watch me," Troy walked out the door. Zeke, Jason and Chad followed.

* * *

"Attention students and teachers. The school is presently going on lock-down. Please lock your doors and windows. No student is allowed out of the classrooms under any circumstances. This is serious. We have a possible kidnapping in progress," the announcement echoed through the school.

"Shit. Someone saw." Michael muttered.

Emily sat in a desk, her hands tied behind her back. She was trembling and breathing heavily. Her forehead shone with sweat in the dark classroom. These were the only things showing her fear. For, when she talked, her voice was filled with confidence.

"Oh darn. I guess you didn't have a perfect plan after all."

"You shut up," he spat. He paced the room nervously.

"You guys! I think this is the classroom," a voice called out from the other side of the door.

'Jason!' Emily thought. A smirk spread across her face. "Looks like you've been found. Give it up, Michael. You can't win."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

They both remained silent as they listened to the voices outside the door.

"Damn. It's locked," Troy said.

"Here, move over. I got a few secrets of my own," Jason's voice floated closer to the door.

They heard clicking sounds and suddenly the door swung open. Jason smirked and put his school ID back in his pocket.

"EMILY!" Troy ran into the room, but stopped quickly. He stared Michael down. Hatred filled Troy's eyes. Zeke, Jason and Chad ran in. Zeke ran and quickly released Emily. She held onto Zeke for dear life.

"Let go of her," Michael warned.

"Oh, yeah, like we are going to listen you," Chad sneered.

"You will," Michael ran, kicked Zeke and grabbed Emily, "Or I'll shoot her." He cocked the gun and pointed it to her head.

Emily began to tremble and breathe heavily. Tears streamed down her face as she felt the cold metal of the gun against her temple.

Troy's eyes widened in fear. "Let her go."

"Gee, I'm going on a 'No' there," he replied sarcastically.

"Well, I'm going for a 'Yes'," Jason coolly replied.

Emily caught Troy's eye. He winked at her before going on, "Fine. Shoot her. See if I care."

The boys stood in shock. Only Emily knew what he was doing.

"Oh please, you don't want that, Bolton. You're just messing with my mind."

"No, really. I would benefit from being an only child," Troy remarked.

"What do you have up your sleeve, Bolton?" Michael cocked his eyebrow.

"This," Troy ran at him. Michael easily jumped out of the way.

"Ha. Nice try, Bolto—" Michael was cut off by Emily kicking him in – let's just say it was a 'bad spot'.

Michael dropped to the floor. The gun flew out of his hands. The gun went off, but didn't seem to hit anyone. Troy grabbed the gun and Emily ran into Jason's arms.

"We've got you now, Michael," Troy said menacingly while pointing the gun at Emily's attacker.

"That's what you think!" Michael pulled out a second gun and pointed it straight at Emily.

"Oh my God," Emily whispered.

Michael's finger tightened on the trigger. Troy had to fire first to save his sister's life.

A shot was fired. Michael fell to the ground as the police came in.

"Good shot, Smith," one of the officers congratulated his partner.

No one, but Michael was hurt.

Or so they thought.

* * *

**I regret to say that I believe chapter 17 shall be the end. (THAT MEANS THE SEQUEL IS COMING SOON!!! YAY!!! -Jordan)**

**But, there will be a sequel. Well, if you guys want one anyway. (I WANT ONE! And I already thought we planned the sequel! Jeez, what a waste of awesomely awesome ideas! -Jordan)**

**So please, review! **


	17. I'm Okay, Really

Chapter 17: I'm Okay, Really

**Sadly to say, this is the last chapter of the story. **

**But, alas, there shall be a sequel! I'll get Jordan to post a summary up after this. She thinks she's going to be some kind of co-writer, but she's not. She's just helping me keep all my thoughts together. (GASPETH! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!?! I'm a co-author's-note-writer! HAH! –Jordan)**

**But anyways, enjoy the last chapter!

* * *

**

"OH MY GOD! JASON!" Emily shrieked. Jason fell to the floor. 

At the exact same time the cops had shot at Michael, Michael had shot at Emily. He missed and hit Jason instead.

Emily fell on her knees next to him. Zeke, Chad and Troy all crowded around him.

"Get a paramedic!" Troy yelled.

Emily propped Jason's head in her lap. "Please don't die, Jase," she whispered. Blood drenched his shirt as it gushed from the wound in his lower chest.

Paramedics arrived and rushed Jason and Emily to the ER. Emily's knee had swollen up from her fall in the hallway. They insisted that she get it checked out.

* * *

"How's the knee?" Troy asked as he came into her hospital room.

"It's just a sprain. I'm fine. How about Jason?" she adjusted the crutches under her arms.

"He's just got out of surgery," he said looking down.

"And?"

"It's bad, Em."

"No…" she whispered. Tears came flooding down her cheeks. Emily just kept shaking her head.

Troy held his sister tight. "He'll work this out, Em. Jason's a fighter," he whispered in her ear. He fought to hold back his own tears.

"That bullet was meant for me. He didn't do anything," she whispered through her sobs. She trembled as she let out the sobs that she had held back for the past hour.

Troy took her crutches out from under Emily's arms and set them aside. He picked her up and carried her to her hospital bed. Gingerly, he placed her on the bed. Emily cried herself to sleep with Troy holding her hand. For the first time in a few days, Emily slept soundly. The nightmares no longer plauged her dreams.

**_(do not BOLD/ITALICIZE/UNDERLINE this. Put a LINE here)(Boo, you suck. –Jordan)

* * *

_**

"How is he?" Troy joined his friends after Emily was asleep.

"The doctors say he's doing better. But, it's still going to be a rough road," Zeke said.

"Jason's going to have to give up basketball for a while," Chad added.

"But he's okay?"

"Pretty much," Zeke replied.

"How's Emster?" Chad asked.

"Her knee is sprained. She's going to use crutches for a while," Troy informed him.

"I meant, how _is_ she?" Chad asked again.

"Oh, she's pretty shaken up. She's feeling really guilty about Jason."

"She shouldn't," Zeke said, "He wouldn't want that."

"She's not going to listen."

The three stood in silence. Each of them thinking their own personal thoughts.

"Mr. Bolton?" a nurse called.

"Yes?" Troy answered.

"This young lady in room 212 is asking for you."

"Oh, thank you," he turned to the guys, "Em's calling me. You guys wanna come see her?"

"Sure," they both repsonded in unison.

**_

* * *

_**Emily was too tired and shaken up to care when Chad entered the room with Troy and Zeke. The group looked empty without Jason. 

"Troy, can I talk to Chad alone?" Emily asked him.

"Um, sure?" He said confused. He ushered Zeke out and stood in the hallway.

"Going to yell at me some more?" Chad said.

"I deserve that."

"No, you don't," he sighed, "I just wish I knew what I did."

"I don't want to talk about it," Emily looked down.

"Then why did you want to talk alone?"

"I want to start over. As friends."

Chad's hopes were a little crushed. He wanted to be with Emily more than anything. But, he would take what he could get.

He smiled, "Friends."

**_

* * *

_**"Ha. You look so stupid with those things," Natalie scoffed as Emily walked hobbled up to school on her crutches. 

"Thanks for being so supportive, Nat."

"Anytime," she smiled. Emily laughed gently.

"Why, is that a _laugh_?" Chad teased Emily.

"Yes, I tend to do that whenever I look at your face, Danforth," Emily teased back.

"Touché," he then went to his locker.

"Whoa, you and Chad are cool now?" Sadie walked up.

"Yeah, having a gun put to your head definitely puts things into perspective."

Natalie and Sadie exchanged looks.

"Guys, lighten up. I'm okay now, remember?"

The two girls still didn't look convinced.

Suddenly, someone came up behind Emily and lifted her up.

"Troy, I can walk to class! Now, put me down!" Emily exclaimed.

"But you get to class so much quicker this way. Besides, you hate those crutches," he laughed as she carried her to class.

"I hate you."

"Now, is that how you thank your brother who saved your life and is now carrying you to class so you don't hurt your poor arms?" Troy said in mock hurt.

"Yeah yeah yeah," she rolled her eyes.

**_

* * *

_**"Knock. Knock." 

"Hey," Jason smiled, "Come on in."

Emily hobbled into Jason's hospital room. She sat in a chair that was pulled up next to his bed.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'll be fine, Em. They thought I wasn't going to make it for a while, but I wasn't going to let it get me that easy."

"I heard there's some side effects or something?"

"Uh, yeah," he sighed, "No basketball until I get cleared by a doctor. Possibly in a few months. Which means—"

"No championship game," Emily looked down. Guilt surged through her body. Jason had trained so hard for this game, and because of her, he couldn't play.

"Em. I'm okay with that."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. That bullet was meant for me…"

"Em. Please. I'm fine with it. Your okay. That's all that matters," he reassured her.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," he wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her tight.

She smiled gently. Jason didn't hate her after all.

**_

* * *

_**"COME ON! YOU CAN MAKE IT!" Emily screamed as the last few seconds of the game went on. Troy had the ball, and he was making his way down the court towards the goal. They needed the shot to beat the West High Knights. 

"GO GO GO GO GO!" Sadie shrieked. She was sitting beside Emily. Natalie, who was on the other side of Emily, was frantically schreeching in French.

Emily's heart was pounding with anticipation. The buzzer sounded. The gym was silent.

"AND EAST HIGH WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP!" The announcement echoed through the gym.

Natalie and Sadie jumped up at cheered with the rest of the crowd. Emily threw up her crutches and screamed louder than any of them.

**_

* * *

_**"Must I get passed around from person to person?" Emily asked. 

"Yes," Troy handed her over to Zeke, "I have some business to attend to." He wiggled his eyebrows and led Gabriella outside.

"They're going to smooch," Emily concluded.

Zeke laughed, "Yeah, probably. Here, Troy says I'm supposed to carry you. But you don't want to be so here."

Zeke sat Emily on the couch and handed her her crutches. "Thanks, Zeke."

She hobbled around the after-party. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. Chad had asked Taylor out, and oddly, she was okay with that. Jason was sitting down, taking it easy. He was supposed to do that, but he didn't like it. Jason always liked being in the middle of the action.

Sadie found some cute guy from the scholastic decathalon team to dance with. Natalie, to Emily's amusement, had found a guy from the French Club and was conversing with him in fluent French.

Sharpay was hanging off of Zeke, smiling widely. Emily laughed and passed Taylor and Chad. They were laughing and talking.

"Hey, Emster," Chad said smiling.

"Hey there, Chadinater," Emily smiled back.

"Be careful on those crutches okay? I don't want you to fall and break your arm."

"Aye aye, Captain," Emily did a small salute.

"Smart ass."

"You know it," Emily retorted. She hobbled over to Jason and sat down next to him.

"Hello there," Jason greeted her. She sighed heavily.

"I hate these stupid crutches," she threw them down carelessly.

"Well, you have to use them."

"Gr," she said.

"You know you love me," He laughed.

**_

* * *

_**"Bravo! Brava!" Mrs. Darbus applauded as the last act ended. 

Troy and Gabriella smiled at each other on stage, still holding their microphones. Moments later the full cast came out holding hands. The couples of the show took turns stepping forward. Gabriella and Troy came forward. Troy leaned down and kissed Gabriella softly on the lips.

Natalie, Sadie and Emily gave a dreamy sigh all at the same time.

"Isn't it romantic?" Emily said in a dreamy voice.

"Oh, yes. So romantic," Sadie cupped her face in her hand.

"L'amour est dans le ciel," Natalie gushed.

The two turned and looked at her confused.

"Oh, sorry. Did I do it again?"

"Yeah, kinda," they said in unison.

**_

* * *

_**"Hey there, Wildcat," Emily leaned in the doorway of Troy's dressing room. 

"Why look! It's my sister!" Troy laughed and gave her a big bear hug.

"You did great out there, Bro."

"I know, I know. I do try," he smiled.

"You're so full of yourself," she teased.

"Why, Emily!" he said in mock horror, "However could you say that?"

"Like this: You're so full of yourself."

"Chad's right, you are a smart ass."

"Oh well," she shrugged.

Troy and Emily were too tired to go to the cast dinner. The two siblings sat at the kitchen table sipping hot chocolate and thinking back over the past few weeks.

"Been quite a month hasn't it?" Troy asked.

Emily remained silent. She was lost in thought about the events. Everything flashed before her eyes like a movie montage.

"Hey, Sis, you okay?" Troy asked over his mug.

"I'm okay, really."

And for the first time in a long while, Emily Bolton actually meant it.

**

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did. Writing this has been so much fun for me. (Me too. –Jordan) **

**I am going ahead with the sequel and a short summary should be up soon. Again, I want to thank my reviewers who have been my support for writing the story. (WHAT ABOUT ME?!?! –Jordan)**

**I don't know if I'll start the sequel right away. I might write a few cute, fluffly one shots. (As long as I'm still the star, I'm fine with it!! –Jordan)**

**Until then, thanks again!**

**Review! (Please review! Allyn loves them! She's contracted bronchitis! Yeah, you feel guilty that you didn't review sooner, don't you? Haha, just messing with you guys. But please, review! –Jordan)**


	18. SEQUEL SUMMARY

Oh look, a summary for the sequel, _Give it a Second Chance._

Yes, this is Jordan, if you're wondering.

_Emily Bolton's been through a lot over the past month. One of those events was breaking up with her boyfriend, Chad. Now that the drama has died down, their friends hatch a scheme to get the two back together. Will it work? Better yet, does Chad still have feelings for Emily?_

Yeah, small, but it's gonna be a GREAT sequel.

(I'm so tired right now..)


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